


guess what we'll discover

by dearygirl



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-21
Updated: 2014-07-21
Packaged: 2018-02-09 18:52:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 74,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1994025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearygirl/pseuds/dearygirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jeff gets a new roommate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was started the summer after season two and takes place the summer before the study group's fourth year at Greendale. 
> 
> Beta'd by the incomparable openhearts who is basically the reason this thing actually exists in its entirety.

It’s a Saturday afternoon, two weeks into summer vacation, when she shows up at his door wearing plaid Bermuda shorts, a white polo shirt and a smile that is way too perky.

She wants something. He knows this before she even opens her mouth.

“Jeff!”

“Annie,” he greets her flatly, leaning into the doorframe.

“Are you having a good summer? You look really tan. Did you go somewhere? You should be careful you know, scientists are saying that the UV index is higher than ever this year and-”

Behind him, in the sanctuary of his apartment there is a baseball game on the television, a fridge full of cold beer and a handful of take-out menus calling his name. He holds up his hand. “What do you want?”

Annie gasps a little as she stops talking in the middle of her sentence, her hands going to her hips, “What makes you think I want something?”

Jeff pushes away from the door and heads toward the kitchen with a dry snort of laughter.

“Before you start in with the Disney eyes, let me just remind you that I’m on summer vacation. I’ll gladly, and by gladly I mean reluctantly and if I can’t make up a decent excuse, show up at whatever barbeque or Summer Beach Blanket Mixer you’re planning but I won’t plan or set up or bring or carry or entertain anything that will entail any kind of effort on my part. No matter how many times you passive-aggressively plead or beg or flutter your eyelashes.”

Annie sighs and closes the door behind her. “Why do you always assume that I’m going to ask you to DO anything?” she asks as she perches herself primly on one of the bar stools at the counter.

“I recognize that look on your face.” Jeff grins and tilts a beer toward her in offering. She waves him off and he kicks the fridge door closed. “It’s that I’m about to ask Jeff something unpleasant so I’m going to act as cute as possible so that he’s caught up in a fog of preciousness and agrees out of disorientation look.” The bottle cap pops off with a snap and Jeff leans toward her over the counter, looking smug.

“I do NOT have a face that says all that.”

He shrugs and takes a swig of his beer. “And again I ask, what do you want?”

With a slight tilt of her head, she gazes at him from underneath her eyelashes, then seemingly realizing what she’s doing, throws back her shoulders and levels him with a narrow-eyed glare. Jeff has to smooth back a chuckle at the impressive wave of facial gymnastics she goes through before finally sighing loudly and smacking her hand on the counter.

“My apartment’s been condemned. They’re tearing it down and putting in an office building.”

“Hmm.” Jeff considers this. “And you want me to use my awesome lawyer skills to have Dildopolis declared a landmark to be preserved for all future generations.”

“No. I need… Wait, can you do that?”

“No, Annie. This isn’t a Jimmy Stewart movie.”

She stares at him for a second, then shakes her head. “Well, I have to be out of my apartment by this weekend.”

“Ahhh. Well, I’d like to take this opportunity to remind you that asking me to help you move would violate the terms of this conversation.”

“Well, see.” Her eyes follow the trail of aimless circles her finger starts tracing along the counter top. She won’t look at him. “The problem is that now I don’t exactly have a place to live.”

Jeff is taking a long pull of beer as this sinks in, as her eyes finally rise to meet his with something like hope glimmering there. Ooooooooh no. No. No.

“Annie,” he starts slowly, setting the bottle down with a clink.

“Wait. Before you say anything.” Jeff groans inwardly at the familiar sound of determination laced through her words. “Just know that you’re my last resort and I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t have to, but I can’t be within twelve feet of Britta’s apartment before I go into anaphylactic shock from her cats and Abed’s moving back in with his dad for the summer and Troy’s out of town visiting his mom and Shirley’s already got all the boys and Ben’s just learned how to walk and it’s chaos at her house and Pierce already left for that Singles Cruise and I know he’d let me stay at his house but Jeff, you’ve been there, it’s huge and Troy’s always talking about how he thinks it’s haunted and I can’t live there by myself and well that leaves you but I swear it’ll only be for a few weeks, a month tops, until I can find a new place and save up some money so I’ll be able to afford something better but I just need some time to get back on my feet and if I could stay here it would really… well, it would help. A lot.”

Annie trails off. Her hands are clenching the edge of the counter and Jeff stares wide-eyed at the way her knuckles are turning white as he digests the run-on sentence she’d just spewed at him.

“Okay, look Annie, I’d love to help but I only have the one bedroom and…”

“That’s okay! I can sleep on the couch! I love sleeping on the couch. Sleeping on the couch is great!”

“Aaaaaand I just got rid of Chang and it’s going to take extensive psychotherapy for me to recover from THAT…”

“Ew! You think I’d be as bad as the guy who went through your underwear drawer and kept chocolate-covered crickets in your fridge? Please.”

“I’m not saying that. And you know I’m not saying that.” He stares her down pointedly until a smile pulls at her lips and she sighs a little, seemingly exasperated that she can’t stay mad at him. And try as he might, he can’t help but grin in return.

“Okay,” she starts up again, but he cuts her off.

“You don’t want to live with me, Annie. You think it’s a good idea now. You look at me and you think Jeff’s awesome, how great would it be to live with him? Maybe I’ll learn some of the secret magic behind what makes him SO awesome.” Annie rolls her eyes. “But I’m telling you right now--”

“What are you worried about, Jeff?” she interrupts. “I’ve known you for three years. There’s not a lot that would shock me anymore.”

A muscle twitches in his jaw. He picks at the loose corner of the label on the bottle, keeping her gaze but not saying anything.

“Is it...?” Annie starts carefully. “Are you worried that I’m going to somehow cramp your style or something? I promise won’t. If you need me out on certain nights when you happen to…” she flushes a little bit here and averts her eyes. “…have a female caller, then just tell me and I’ll stay out of your way. You can put a sock on the door! Like a secret code!”

“Yeaaaaaah, cause nothing says ‘secret code’ like a sock on a door handle… Have you ever actually lived with a member of the opposite sex?”

“Have you?” she shoots back.

Jeff’s mouth opens, and then snaps shut again. After beat, he laughs. “Tell me again why you’re going into medical administration instead of law?”

Her smile turns smug as she leans forward. “Did you just admit to being out-lawyered?”

“No! Absolutely not.” He narrows his eyes at her as she giggles. “I may have acknowledged a momentary challenge. But it’s nothing I can’t handle. In the end.” There’s an extra bit of cockiness in his tone and for a split second he thinks he imagines something like curiosity flicker across her face before she looks away. He rolls the nearly empty beer bottle between his hands and waits for her to fill the silence.

“Jeff.” She stops and takes a deep breath before meeting his eyes again. “Please. My only other option is moving back in with my mom and I can’t. She’s… she’ll try to take over and she’ll make me… it’ll be high school all over again. And look how that turned out the first time.”

Jeff pauses. There’s something in her tone that says this isn’t just a tactic of manipulation. “I think you could handle it now,” he mutters in the direction of the kitchen counter.

Annie’s eyes widen a little, her cheeks flushing a bit pink as she looks down. “Thanks,” she says quietly. “But…you don’t understand, high school was horrible. She used to-”

He holds up his hand. “Annie. One of these days the I Was a High School Reject stories are going to lose their charm.”

She falters, but only momentarily. “Soooooo, does that mean they’re charming you now?”

Jeff’s only response is a short laugh as he backs away toward the fridge to grab a bottle of water. On the other side of the counter she continues to watch him with hope in her wide blue eyes. Crap. She makes good points. But…

“What about…” he motions between them and raises his eyebrows meaningfully.

Annie looks genuinely confused.

“This isn’t some ploy to make me fall in love you?”

She blinks at him. “Wha-?!”

Jeff shrugs.

“Ugh!” Her eyes roll as she groans in frustration. “Jeff, that’s over. You know that.”

Okay. It’s true that any sort of crush-like tendencies she’d once directed his way had cooled off over the last year. Especially once she had started dating Trevor – the bleached blonde, former California surfer who had strolled into the library with his cargo shorts, flip flops and wavy hair, and sent Annie into fits of girlish blushing the moment he smiled at her and then was actually interested and not too old or shirtless or sociopathic.

They had dated for five months, until Annie had broken up with him sometime after Valentines Day, for reasons that were never specified and when Jeff tried to ask her about it she had brushed it off and sighed and just said it wasn’t working. Whatever. He didn’t care one way or another - he wasn’t Gossip Girl - he just wanted to make sure that he and Troy or Shirley weren’t going to be expected to kick Trevor’s ass in the parking lot.

When he had told her this, in his driest I don’t actually give a fuck tone of voice, she had only smiled and thanked him for his concern and then popped up on her toes and kissed his cheek in a way that was both familial and non-lingering.

This doesn’t mean though that co-habitation is an ideal situation.

Annie hops off the stool and scurries around the corner into the kitchen to grab his hand. “Please. Jeff.” There’s only a slight flutter in her eyelashes, a hint of desperation – the rest is all blue-steeled determination. She’s not going to let this go.

There are a million reasons to say no. Including that little zip of feeling that went up his arm as her palm pressed against his - irritation mostly because he’s starting to actually consider this insanity.

“Only a few weeks right?”

Her eyes light up as she nods furiously, “Yes. Yes. I promise.”

“I have three conditions.”

Annie’s joy is so palpable she’s practically jumping up and down as she continues clutching his hand in between hers.

“Whatever. Anything.”

Jeff flexes his fingers and she lets go, clasping her hands under her chin.

“Number one: this excuses me from having to help you move.”

“Oh please. You wouldn’t have helped anyway.”

“Sure. And then I would have received thirty-five text messages from you saying that it’s okay that Britta dropped a box of your favorite snow globes and it’s okay that Shirley and Abed aren’t strong enough to move your dresser and you’re sure someone will come along to help. Eventually.”

“I don’t have a snow globe collection.”

“Kitten figurines. Heart-shaped candleholders. Same difference.”

Annie smacks his arm and he shrugs away with a laugh.

“Hey, these are the conditions. You can agree to them or you can move home to Mommy Dearest. Your call.”

She meets his smirk with a sigh. “Fine. I won’t ask you to help. What’s number two?”

Jeff narrows his eyes pointedly. “Just because we’ll be temporary roommates doesn’t mean that you suddenly have free reign to nag me about how I choose to spend my time. If I’m going to waste an entire Sunday on the couch watching The Real Housewives, you have to respect that.” He thinks about it for a second, “AND not tell anyone.”

“Deal… You don’t really do that though, do you Jeff?” Annie’s nose scrunches up in distaste and Jeff eyes her incredulously. She winces and mutters an apology.

He shakes his head at the ceiling. “I’m going to regret this SO MUCH.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. That’s the last hint of disapproval you’ll see from me. See?” Annie waves her hand over her face, letting her features relax into a breezy, I don’t care nonchalance. “I’m cool. Whatever.”

The corners of Jeff’s mouth quirk up in amusement as he gazes down at her.

“Convincing.”

Annie lifts one of her shoulders and grins, obviously pleased that she’s managed to make him smile. THIS. This is why she’s dangerous. Even at her most obnoxious, there’s a hint of adorableness behind it that makes him want to… nevermind.

Jeff exhales loudly, “Okay, and three. And this is the most important one.” Annie nods as Jeff motions around the apartment. “This? Is a man’s apartment. Where I do manly things like lift weights and refuse to read directions. And it will remain that way. So if anything Beiber or Twilight or My Little Pony-related shows up anywhere near here I will personally move you into your mom’s house faster than you can say ‘One Less Lonely Girl.’ Got it?”

A tiny grin tugs at Annie’s lips and Jeff points a finger at her, “Yes. I know the name of a Justin Beiber song. I listen to the local Top 40 station and they overplay everything. Don’t smirk all knowingly at me.”

“You know I’m 21 now right? I don’t actually play with dolls.”

“Yes. But I also know that you went to the midnight showing of the last Twilight movie.”

Annie opens her mouth but can’t seem to come up with a way to respond. She settles for crossing her arms over her chest with a huff. “Fine.”

“Fine.”

They watch each other for a long moment before Annie smiles and bounces up on her toes, “Sooooooo. Roommates?”

Jeff glances helplessly toward the television where a car commercial is flickering silently. Annie follows his gaze and then tilts her head to the side, regarding him with what looks like pity. Ugh.

“Temporary roommates,” he qualifies and holds out his hand to shake on it. Annie’s too fast for him though as she yelps and leaps forward, wrapping her arms all the way around him in a tight squeeze. 

“You have NO idea how much this means to me!”

“Annie.” She’s got his arms pinned to his sides and he feels a little ridiculous because she’s all pressed against him, her cheek snuggled against his chest and he can’t DO anything about it - she’s deceptively strong for someone half his size.

When she releases him, beaming little (platonic) hearts out of her eyes, Jeff offers her a tentative smile and somehow resists the urge to pat her on the head.

“Okay.” She claps her hands together, her expression taking on a sudden dreamy quality, as she’s lost to a tailspin of mental to-do lists. “I have to go finish packing. And find people to help me move. And rent out a temporary storage space and…” she’s muttering to herself now as she heads towards the door. “There’s so much to get done!”

“Just a few weeks right?” he calls after her.

Annie’s already halfway out the door when she turns back. “Promise. And hey, this might even be fun.” She doesn’t wait for his response and Jeff finds himself frowning at the back of the door as it shuts behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

“Are you suuuure this is a good idea Annie?” Britta’s voice is tinged with a mixed of condescension and concern. Shirley hums in agreement.

“It’s FINE, I promise.” Annie pushes an olive around her plate, looking up to see her friends exchanging a glance across the table. “Really.”

“But Jeff? Do you really want an inside look into how that guy lives on a daily basis?” Britta twists her mouth up as if she’s tasted something foul.

“That guy? He’s not some stranger off the street, Britta. Besides, you didn’t seem to have a problem sleeping around with that guy for over a year. Why can’t I stay on his couch for a few weeks?” Annie raises an eyebrow pointedly and Britta levels her with a glare.

“But sweetie. This is completely different. We all know that you have feelings for him and it’s completely understandable because that boy certainly knows how to fill out a pair of jeans--” Britta snorts at this. “But I really don’t think it’s the best idea for you to--”

“Shirley!” Annie sputters loud enough that several people in the restaurant turn and stare. She smiles apologetically and leans forward, lowering her voice. “I do NOT have feelings for him. Not anymore.”

“Annie. You say that. And you might think it’s true. But whenever the two of you spend time together…” Britta trails off and shrugs apologetically.

It takes all of Annie’s energy not to throw her fork down and slump into her chair like a petulant child. Her friends mean well and it’s not unexpected but she’s offended by the assumption that she’ll somehow be unable to keep from falling madly in love with Jeff Winger over the course of a couple measly weeks.

After counting backwards from ten, and taking a deep breath, she smiles. “Thank you for your input, but I assure you that whatever attachment I had to Jeff has been long forgotten.” She pauses, knowing that her next words will have the desired affect. “Besides, I know him too well now. He would make a terrible boyfriend. Remember what happened with Melissa?”

Britta lets out a short laugh. “And he tells me I have issues.”

“That poor girl. She never saw it coming.”

Annie nods and then listens, pleased, as the two women across from her stray down a path of reminiscing about the last woman Jeff had briefly dated and the abrupt way he had broken it off after a stray comment from her about whether he had ever considered hair plugs.

“So!” she breaks in brightly ten minutes later when the conversation has transitioned away from Jeff’s vanity to the disturbing rumor that Pierce had brought a Speedo for his cruise and what the current over-under was on him being left to drown somewhere at sea. “I can count on you guys to help me move, right?”

 

~*~*~

 

It takes three days to pack her life into very organized and specifically coded boxes.

True to his word, Jeff doesn’t help with the moving process - only offering brief direction towards Britta when she staggers into his apartment carrying a box of books. She lobs one at his head and he laughs and ducks out of the way as it smashes into the wall beside him.

True to her word, Annie doesn’t ask for his help, passive-aggressively or otherwise, but a half an hour after the book incident, the Dominos delivery guy shows up with a stack of pizzas and Jeff pulls his wallet out without saying anything and then mentions vaguely to everyone that there’s soda in the fridge.

As soon as all Annie’s belongings are piled into the corner of the living room, Abed hijacks the television remote and they all lounge around, eating pizza and watching a Star Wars marathon until Shirley leaves to get home to the boys and Britta scurries out, mumbling something vague about dinner plans that Jeff scoffs at once she’s gone.

“Sure, with her cats and a History Channel documentary about human trafficking.”

“I don’t know Jeff,” Annie says slowly. They’re sitting on opposite ends of the couch while Abed perches at the edge of the armchair watching the movie with rapt attention. “I kind of get the feeling lately like she’s hiding something.”

“Why would she hide a boyfriend from us?”

“Oh, I don’t know. We normally handle that kind of stuff sooooo well.”

Jeff frowns at her without taking his eyes off the screen. “We were nice to that idiot you dated.”

Annie laughs, “See?” She looks up towards Abed for support and notices then that he’s stopped watching the movie and is now watching them with contemplative, observant eyes. It leaves her feeling discomfited and she shifts awkwardly in her seat.

“I should go.” Abed stands up quickly and nods as if approving of his own decision.

Jeff barely looks up. “You got a hot date too, buddy?” he laughs.

Abed continues on as if he hadn’t spoken. “I wish I could stay. The fun part’s just starting.” His eyes flicker back and forth between Jeff and Annie as the latter’s unease increases exponentially.

“What?” Jeff finally looks up, confused, and points at the television, “You can stay and watch the end.”

“Nevermind.” Abed holds up a finger. “Spoilers.” There’s an almost breathless excitement in his voice and he turns quickly and slips out the door.

Jeff stares after him, clearly amused. “Uh, pretty sure I already know how this one ends.” He glances over at Annie and takes in her perplexed face. “Oh Jesus, Annie, please tell me you’ve seen Star Wars.”

“Yes. I’ve seen Star Wars.” She relaxes and tries to push the possible meaning behind Abed’s words out of her head. “The Ewoks were always my favorite.”

He turns toward her slowly, “Annie.”

“What?! They’re cuddly and they have a lot of personality and they end up being quite helpful.”

“Fine,” he allows after brief consideration. “But if you say you actually liked Jar-Jar Binks? You’re out on the street.”

She side-eyes him before slouching down against the armrest with her arms folded over her chest, “You’re a nerd.”

“Pshhhh. Whatever. You don’t have to be a nerd to see when one character practically ruins an entire movie franchise.”

“Wow,” Annie mouths silently. Jeff tosses a throw pillow at her head and she giggles as she catches it and clutches it to her chest.

He’s smiling too a little bit and it’s comfortable and any feelings of awkwardness Abed left in his wake suddenly disappear and Annie wants to shout in triumph because, SEE? Everything is going to be just fine.

 

~*~*~

 

When her alarm chirps bright and early in the morning, Annie’s momentarily disoriented, peering through bleary eyes at where her cell phone vibrates on the coffee table, at the pile of boxes and clothes lined up along the wall and – oh yeah.

This isn’t exactly the way she had once fantasized about waking up in Jeff's apartment – slipping on one of his button-down shirts, making coffee barefoot in the kitchen, waking him up with a few well placed kisses along his neck and collarbone until he stirred and wrapped his arms around her and… Nope. Nope. Nope. Annie shakes her head to get rid of the image. Not going there.

With a loud sigh, she stretches her arms over her head, trying to psych herself up for the day and week ahead. She’s spending the summer working full time at a local pediatrician’s office, learning the ins and outs of managing a medical office and so far she loves it and loves the patients and all her co-workers but the 9 to 5 thing is kind of exhausting.

The phone chimes again and Annie kicks the sheets off her legs and sort of rolls herself off the couch – at almost the exact moment that Jeff’s bedroom door opens and he’s shuffling out and scratching the back of his head, mouth open in a wide yawn.

\--and wearing only a pair of his infamous striped underwear - blue and white, this time.

“Oh!” Annie squeaks, holding her hand to her chest.

“Uh.” He blinks at her like he’s forgotten why she’s there and then they just stare at each other until it’s officially super weird.

“You go first,” they say in unison and then start stuttering and stammering, cutting each other off and waving vaguely toward the bathroom until Jeff shakes his head and disappears back into his room.

Annie stands still, biting her lip and fighting back the strange wave of nerves that rolls over her. It’s possible that she hadn’t taken into account the finer points of living with a man – especially when that man is Jeff Winger and he’s got a body that sometimes she’d just like to…

A shower. She really needs a shower.

She locks herself in the bathroom and stands under the spray of water, letting it run colder than normal so that she shivers a little.

She is completely over him. She has been for a while now. He had made it perfectly clear that nothing was ever going to happen and once that had finally sunk into her head, Annie had moved on.

Last year had been about Trevor and his dimples and the way he waited for her sometimes after class and returned her calls and actually wanted to be with her, and there hadn’t been a lot of time to obsess over every stupid moment with Jeff - because okay, sure, there are times when he smiles or stands too close and she maybe might still feel something – a shiver, a zap of warmth in her stomach, the need to pull even closer. But it’s just the lingering remnants of old feelings that are long since gone. A phantom limb of feelings, really.

She’s an adult. And Jeff is an adult. And they’re friends. And she fully intends on proving that she’s capable of not falling in love with everyone who spares her a second glance, of not falling into that trap of wanting to catalogue every look, every touch, every secret moment that could mean more. If Jeff’s going to insist on walking around half naked, well then… she’s a woman, right? She can appreciate that. It doesn’t have to mean anything.

With a resolute nod Annie grabs the shampoo bottle from the edge of the bathtub and squirts some into her hand. But she’s not paying attention and it’s Jeff’s shampoo - the familiar scent of him suddenly wafting around her and causing a jolt of sensation in her stomach.

It would probably be a good idea to start that apartment search as soon as possible. Just to be safe.

 

~*~*~

 

“Wingeeeeeerrrrrrr.”

“Huh?” Jeff realizes that he’s been staring into space and focuses quickly on the man in front of him. Alan’s leaning forward with his hands planted on the desk, kind of swaying his ass back and forth. He waggles his eyebrows.

“Duuuuuude. You’re so out of it right now. You uhhhh?” He looks around to make sure no one’s watching and then holds two fingers to his mouth, miming smoking a joint. “And why haven’t you shared it with me yet? COME ON, MAN. I thought we were friends.”

Jeff shakes his head and grabs a file off the stack sitting in front of him. “I’m not high. This isn’t a Kevin Smith movie.”

“Uggggggggggh.” Alan stands up, tugging at his tie. “When did you get so boring? What the hell is this?” He gestures at the piles of blue folders all over the desk. “What are you doing? Who assigned this to you? Your boss must be a real asshole… Oh wait.” He laughs loudly, looking around, this time to make sure people are watching, “That’s me.”

“Look, Alan,” Jeff interrupts before the other man can launch into another disgusting line of self-congratulating humble brags – and he helped this douchebag get a promotion, why? “I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.”

Alan’s eyes light up, “Yeaaaaaaaah? What was her name? Not that it matters.” He sends a wink to the assistant across the hallway. She smiles thinly, turning away and Alan scoffs as he points his thumb at her, “Someone needs to develop a sense of humor.” He leans back over Jeff’s desk. “So, do I know her?”

“Probably not, she didn’t cost money,” Jeff mutters and then jerks back as Alan laughs loudly and punches him playfully in the chest.

“This guy!” He mimes fingers guns at Jeff as he walks backwards, almost slamming into an intern with a huge stack of files in her arms. “Woah, woah. WOAH.” Alan takes one look at the woman’s face and his attention is suddenly, completely, diverted. “Let me help you with that.” He grabs the files from her, making sure to take a long look down her blouse once the view is unobstructed.

The unsuspecting intern smiles gratefully as Alan follows her down the hallway, leering at her ass without any trace of shame. Jeff presses his thumb against the bridge of his nose and stares down at the deposition in front of him, trying to re-focus his attention.

But nope. There’s that image again, the one from this morning, of Annie with her hair out of place from sleep as she blinked at him drowsily in a way that made him want to do irrational things like step forward and trace his finger along the strap of her camisole where it hung down her shoulder and... dammit, the whole thing is just entirely too distracting.

He checks the clock. Alan’s been gone for about three minutes, which means that Jeff has about thirty seconds to find him and intercept a sexual harassment lawsuit in the making. Really, he should just let the man go down in flames, but Alan's always up for getting a drink, no matter what time of day and Jeff needs to not be sitting around here fucking daydreaming about Annie in her adorable sleepwear.

Yeah, he really has to learn how to say no to her.

 

~*~*~

 

The next few days are… weird.

Neither of them are home a lot but they’re bouncing off each other in different ways than ever before and it’s disconcerting. It’s more than being at Greendale and walking through the hallways together and arguing about biology assignments - It’s showering in the same bathroom and coming home late to find Annie sound asleep on the couch. It’s grocery shopping and Jeff eating that last avocado and putting an empty carton of orange juice back in the fridge instead of throwing it away.

“Guys actually DO that?” She had exclaimed into the empty apartment one night while searching for something to eat.

Annie’s never lived with a man before (other than her father, and that doesn’t count) and it’s a little like opening up a new window into who Jeff Winger is and she’s not sure what she expected – that he lounged around in expensive suits, drinking expensive alcohol and smoking expensive cigars while sleek, bleached blonde women with fake boobs walked in and out of the apartment at all hours of the day and night?

Because it turns out that living with Jeff is only strange in how quiet and normal it is.

He does sometimes have a glass of scotch when he comes home from work but it’s usually while watching some rerun of America’s Next Top Model and he does go out at night and come back late but he’s always alone. The only other woman that she’s ever seen in his apartment in the elderly lady next door who comes over with cookies or to ask Jeff to open jars of spaghetti sauce.

One morning, though, Annie's standing in the kitchen pouring a glass of orange juice, assuming Jeff is still tucked away safely in his room when a key turns in the lock, scaring her half to death and he strolls in with unkempt hair, in last night’s clothes.

For a split second she images that he looks almost embarrassed when he catches her eye but she turns away quickly, surprised at the tightening in her stomach.

He heads toward the bathroom without saying a word and Annie finds that the toast she had been in the middle of eating is suddenly too dry and tasteless.

 

~*~*~

 

She’s been living there over a week when Jeff comes home one night, earlier than normal, while she’s in the middle of making dinner. His keys land on the coffee table with a loud clatter and he kicks his shoes off to the side as he makes his way toward the kitchen and grabs a glass from the cabinet over Annie’s head.

“Hey,” she starts cheerfully.

Jeff rubs a hand over his face and gives her a half-smile as he pours a splash of scotch and immediately downs it, wincing a little and then pouring some more. Annie raises an eyebrow but doesn’t say anything.

“What are you making?” he questions after a moment.

“Grilled cheese.” She meets his gaze with a shrug. “I was in the mood for comfort food.”

He looks like he want to say something and she’s about to offer to make him one when he abruptly turns away.

“I’m going to bed.”

Annie laughs and glances up at the LCD readout on the microwave. “It’s only 6:30.”

“Yup.” He clutches the glass to his chest and then on second thought grabs the entire bottle of Macallan as he passes by the counter.

A twinge of concern makes Annie bite her lip as she watches him carefully. “Are you okay?”

“Huh?” He doesn’t look at her, just laughs dryly as heads toward his room. “Yeah. Just. Work stuff. Doesn’t matter. Night.” The door gets kicked shut behind him.

 

~*~*~

 

It’s six hours later and Annie can’t sleep.

The sheets are tangled around her legs and she kicks at them in frustration as she flails her arm out to the side to reach for her cell phone to check the time again. If she falls asleep right now she can get five and a half hours of sleep before she has to get up for work.

The silence of the apartment bears down on her as she stares at the ceiling. Yeah, it’s not happening. The couch is actually pretty comfortable but after three years of living above Dildopolis, she had gotten used to falling asleep to a constant thrum of noise and chatter; the quiet of Jeff’s apartment building is too empty, heavy with what isn’t there.

With a final kick she shakes the sheets completely off and they flutter to the floor in a heap as she flops over onto her side and glares at Jeff’s bedroom door, behind which he’s probably passed out drunk after drinking too much scotch and being tortured by whatever it is he won’t talk about.

It’s times like this she wishes she could be Britta because Britta would have barged in there and demanded to know what his deal was and they would have shouted loudly at each other through thinly veiled witticisms until they got bored… or just ended up having really angry sex. Or something.

She turns her head into the pillow and groans, then flings herself up off the couch and pads towards the kitchen, not even bothering to turn the light on. A few days ago she had noticed a stray pint of Ben and Jerry’s buried in the bottom of the freezer and Jeff’s always whining about carbs anyway, he’ll probably never notice it’s gone.

But she’s just hoisted herself onto the counter and put the first spoonful of brownie fudge ice cream in her mouth when his bedroom door opens. Annie freezes, feeling like a kid caught out of bed. She’s hidden in the darkness of the kitchen so he doesn’t see her as he walks in and goes to open the fridge but it’s officially creepy if she doesn’t say anything, right?

She clears her throat, “Hey.”

Jeff jumps and smacks his shoulder into the fridge door.

“Jesus, Annie.”

“Sorry,” she whispers.

“What are you doing?”

“Um.” She holds up the ice cream and spoon, shrugging. “I’ll replace it?”

Jeff huffs out a tired laugh, “Ice cream at midnight?”

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“Pretty sure the sugar rush isn’t going to help you with that one.” But he opens the drawer to pull out another spoon. Annie grins as she takes another mouthful and then holds the pint out toward him. He leans against the counter next to her and they pass the ice cream back and forth in silence for a few minutes.

Annie regards his profile as he’s taking a bite, his eyes closing as he drags the spoon out over his tongue.

“Are you drunk?”

Jeff looks up at her in surprise. “What?”

“You locked yourself in your room earlier with a bottle of alcohol.” She’s trying desperately not to sound like she’s judging him, or nagging.

For a moment he looks kind of sheepish. “Nah. I fell asleep before I even finished the first glass.”

“Oh.” Annie pokes at the ice cream, picking out a brownie bit and popping it in her mouth. “Did you have a bad day at work?”

“Mmm.” And she half expects that he’ll say something snarky and shrug it off so her eyes widen when he murmurs, “Alan’s an ass.”

“We already knew that, Jeff.”

“Yeah but… I never cared about it before.” He looks up at her pointedly before continuing. “We went to a strip club for lunch.”

Annie’s nose wrinkles up in distaste.

“See!” Jeff waves his hand at her. “That’s the problem! I picture THAT face. And Britta launching into a tirade about the objectification of women. And Shirley saying, ‘oh that’s NOT nice.” And then there’s Pierce being… well, Pierce. And you guys have completely ruined me.” He turns himself around and drops his spoon in the sink, braces his hands on the counter and scowls at her.

It takes super human effort not to start laughing because he seems so completely distraught. “Jeff, if you think I’m going to feel sorry for you because you can’t enjoy yourself at a strip club in the middle of the day, I’m sorry but-”

“It’s not even…” He tilts his head to the side, “He got me fired.”

“I know,” Annie says quietly.

“And I want to punch him in the face all the fucking time but I can’t because I do want to work there again and I actually like Ted and-”

Annie finally sighs and cuts him off with a pat on his head. “Oh Jeff, you’re growing up.”

His eyes flicker up to her hand and the corners of his mouth twitch before he looks back down at the sink. “I’m getting old.” There’s a vulnerability in his words that makes Annie’s heart constrict, makes her want to jump down off the counter and wrap herself around him. She settles for sliding her hand down to his shoulder, curling her fingers in.

“There’s a difference between getting old and not being an asshole.”

His eyebrows reach into his hairline at her choice of words.

Annie flushes. “What?”

Jeff laughs and shakes his head, pushes away from the counter. “Nothing. I’m tired. I’m gonna.” He nods his head toward his room and Annie nods. For a brief second, as he watches her intently, she imagines that he leans toward her a bit, enough to make her breath catch in her throat. But in a blink he’s gone, headed around the corner back to his room.

“Goodnight Jeff.”

He smiles back at her, the corners of his eyes crinkling and Annie finds herself staring into space in the darkened kitchen long after she hears his door shut.

 

~*~*~

 

Jeff comes home two days later to find Britta on the couch, her feet propped up on the coffee table as she flips through channels on the TV, looking bored.

“Britta,” he states dryly, a hint of a question in his voice as he throws his keys and wallet on the table by the door

She barely glances up at him. “What are you doing here?”

“Uh, the last time I checked it was my name on the lease. Now get your boots off my furniture.”

Britta toes the corner of the table and makes it rock back and forth on its uneven legs. “Oh I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scuff up this mint condition artifact.”

“Why can’t you just wear flip flops and sandals like 95% of women in America? It’s summer. Paint your toes hot pink. Live a little,” he leans toward her with a condescending smirk.

“Uh. Cause I’m not a lemur.”

“Lemming.”

Britta purses her lips and looks slightly abashed. “I know!”

Jeff grins and heads toward the kitchen. “Seriously. Why are you here.”

“I’m helping Annie get ready for her date.”

As if on cue, the woman in question emerges from the bathroom. “You’re home! Sorry. It’s a mess in here right now. But I’ll clean it up.”

With one hand on the fridge door, Jeff freezes as he takes in her outfit – a purple and white polka dot sundress that cinches at her rib cage and falls to about mid-thigh. Her hair is down around her shoulders and slightly more tussled than normal, eye make-up a little darker so that her blue eyes seem even wider. It’s not scandalous by any means, just… that’s a lot of skin left visible.

Jeff tears his eyes away and pretends that something absolutely fascinating is happening on the top shelf of the fridge. “Whatever.”

He hears Britta saying something but concentrates instead on the cool air hitting his skin. It’s not like he hasn’t seen her in a dress before and some of those strips of material she calls skirts are significantly shorter but there’s something in the Annie that is currently standing in his living room that makes it harder to deny that’s she an adult and an actual viable…

Wait, did she say date?

As casually as possible he heads back into the living room, stepping over Britta’s legs as he hands her a beer and drops down next to her on the couch. Annie’s disappeared back into the bathroom and Britta’s suddenly riveted to the goings-on on the television screen.

“What the hell are you watching?”

“CSPAN.”

“Of course.” He waits a beat. “So. Annie’s got a date.”

Britta whips her head around and is suddenly in his face as she points her finger at his chest and leans in close, “Don’t,” she whisper-hisses.

“What?!” Jeff rears back.

“Oh please. You know what you’re doing.”

“Getting my head chewed off for asking a simple question?”

“No. Being a jealous douche.”

“Jealous?” He makes a noise that is clearly meant to signify that she’s crazy. “Your mom’s jealous.”

Britta grins as Jeff closes his eyes and shakes his head, realizing immediately how nonsensical a comeback that was.

“Whatever. I was just showing interest. That’s what friends do, right?”

“Uh-huh. Well since you’re SO interested.” She actually finger-quotes interested. “Then yes. Annie has a date.”

“Britta set me up with him.” They both look up to see Annie in the doorway of the bathroom, holding onto the doorframe as she slips on a pair of black ballet flats.

“Oh. Britta found him? Well, then he’s sure to be a winner.”

Both women roll their eyes at him. “He works at the cat shelter I go to,” Britta says with a flip of her hair. Like that’s meant to be impressive or something.

“Please don’t tell me this is another stringy haired hippy.”

“Vaughn didn’t have stringy hair. But no. His name’s Josh and he’s a nice guy. Not that you would know anything about that.”

Jeff ignores the insult and presses on. “So why aren’t you dating him? Oh.” He leans in and drops his voice to a faux whisper, “Did you already bone him?”

“NO.” Britta aims a punch for his shoulder that makes him gasp in pain and twist away.

“What the fuck?!” He rubs his arm with a grimace.

“Well, stop being mean!”

“Ahem,” Annie clears her throat. “If you guys are done acting like children.” She holds her arms out and spins so that the dress sort of twirls around her.

Britta wolf-whistles. “You look hot.”

“Thank you!” Annie beams and then they both look to Jeff who has taken a sudden interest in the proceedings of Congress.

“Oh.” He looks up. “Yeah. You look nice.” His tone is nonchalant but Annie smiles and flushes as if he just told her she looks incredible…and maybe she does. Maybe nice really doesn’t even begin to cover it.

Pull it together, Winger.

He takes a long pull of his beer and attempts to ignore them both as Annie runs through the plan – dinner at that new Mexican restaurant, a movie if everything goes well – in that breathless, excited way of hers that makes him scowl at the television.

“Okay, wish me luck!” And then she’s practically skipping out the door, flushing only slightly when Britta yells out a reminder to “Use protection!”

Jeff clutches his beer bottle tighter as the door slams shut and Britta turns to him with a challenging smile, smug as all hell.

 

~*~*~

 

It’s five past one.

Jeff stares at the clock, trying to re-assure himself that he’s read that incorrectly. Yeah. His cell phone confirms the time.

Britta had stayed for pizza and more beer and more fighting over what to watch before leaving sometime around nine when Jeff had started playing a video game and slipped into an almost zombie-like state of glazed eyes as things blew up on-screen and the hours slipped by unnoticed.

And now it’s 1:05 AM and Annie’s still not home.

He checks his phone – no missed calls - turns the ringer all the way up and throws it down on the couch, stalking toward the kitchen for a glass of water. He’s trying not to think like an over protective dad. Or a jealous boyfr- Whatever, he’s neither of these things. But this is Annie. And okay, he doesn’t know a lot about her dating habits - he didn’t even know she had dating habits. There was Vaughn. And Trevor. And in the middle he had just assumed that there was a lot of sitting around in her room and drawing hearts around his name. Or Troy’s. Or Taylor Lautner’s.

Two years ago she hadn’t even been able to say the word penis, but maybe she’s grown up more than he thought. Maybe Annie has a sex life. Maybe Annie goes on first dates that turn into sleepovers that turn into an early morning walks of shame.

There’s a growing pressure behind his eyes. Ugh. Jeff yanks the brand new pint of ice cream out of the freezer - it had shown up there yesterday after Annie had gone shopping - and pops the lid off. He stares at it for a second before changing his mind and throwing it back in the freezer.

 

~*~*~

 

At 1:35 he flips idly through the channels, stopping briefly at Silence of the Lambs until Buffalo Bill comes onscreen and Jeff shudders and picks up the remote again. He settles a few minutes later for a bad sci-fi movie about mutant alligators battling giant piranha.

 

~*~*~

 

At 1:52 he starts another video game to take his mind of the scenario he’s created in his head where Annie’s lured into the back of a van by a creepy serial killer.

 

~*~*~

 

At 1:55 he composes a text message asking where the hell she is. He deletes it immediately.

 

~*~*~

 

At 2:03 a key turns in the lock.

Jeff freezes, then kicks his legs onto the coffee table, slumps down into the couch and picks up the video game controller just as the door opens.

“Jeff?”

“Hmmm.” He makes a show of tearing his eyes away from the screen and looking up at her in disinterested fashion. “Oh. Hey.”

Annie’s lips turn up in amusement as she drops her keys and purse by the side of the couch. “Did you wait up for me?”

“What?” Jeff squints at the time display on the DVD player. “Oh, wow. I didn’t realize it was so late… So.” He looks up at her and notes the blue hoodie she’s wearing, unzipped, over her dress. “Good date?”

His question is met with a yawn and then a loud sigh as she makes her way into the kitchen. “It was horrible. He spent the entire dinner talking about his job. Jeff.” She leans over the counter and he cranes his head back to look at her. “He cleans up after hundred of animals every day. His job is gross. And we were eating.”

Jeff makes a face and Annie nods furiously, “Right?! I could barely keep my food down.”

“Huh.” Jeff smiles to himself as he turns back around, then realizes what he’s doing and lets out a long exhale. “But you stayed out till 2 with him anyway?

 

“No.” Annie flops down next to him with the pint of ice cream and two spoons. “After dinner I called Abed. We went to a double feature at the dollar movie theater.”

Abed? 

“Oh.”

“I would have called you too if I knew you were going to be home alone all night.” She hands him a spoon and Jeff takes it with a weak smile. Wow. How did he suddenly become so pathetic?

“Oh I was… I had stuff… to do,” he finishes lamely. Annie smiles, knowingly, and hands him the ice cream, spoon still between her lips. There’s a brightness in her eyes that makes his hands clench but he clears his throat and pokes his spoon into the carton. “So I hope you learned your lesson about going to Britta for matchmaking purposes.”

Her nose scrunches up. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Seriously Annie. It’s Britta. She collects damaged guys like they’re baseball cards.”

Annie glances sideways at him, “Aren’t you part of that collection?”

“ME? No. I’m not damaged.” A slow smirk spreads across his features. “I wouldn’t, however, object to being compared to a collector’s item.” The hand not holding the ice cream drops to his abs.

“Ew.” She wrenches the ice cream away from him but he continues to grin cockily at her until she sighs and tilts her head thoughtfully, “You were waiting up for me.”

“Wha-” Jeff sputters. “No. I was…” He motions toward the television even though he knows it’s futile and the look on her face is one of utter glee.

“Awwww,” she starts but Jeff is shaking his head and getting to his feet, shoving his spoon back into her hand.

“Nope. Nope. I’m going to bed.”

“Jeff!” And now she’s giggling.

He doesn’t look back at her as he escapes to his bedroom and shuts the door firmly behind him.

Well, that’s just… great.


	3. Chapter 3

It’s a Saturday morning and Jeff’s lounging on the couch with a protein shake in his hand, flipping idly through the channels as Annie sits cross-legged on the floor, folding laundry and making neat, colorful stacks of cardigans and camisoles.

They’ve been living together for over three weeks.

As it turns out, she had actually been getting a pretty amazing deal living above Dildoplis. Every other apartment she finds is too expensive or somehow in an even more appalling neighborhood and all the people currently searching for roommates on Craig’s List run the shady spectrum from should sign up for an episode of Hoarders to has mysterious blood stains on the carpet.

Every time she comes home from another failed apartment search she apologizes profusely and then offers to do something ridiculous like organize his hall closet (Jeff suspects that this is coming from a deep desire to actually just clean the mess in there) but he shrugs and waves her off, saying that it’s not a big deal.

And it’s really not.

It turns out that Annie’s not a bad roommate to have around (and ever since they figured out a bathroom schedule, the awkwardness level’s been kept to a minimum). She keeps things clean and stays out of his way and sticks to the agreement of not nagging and the whole thing is quieter and easier than he expected.

She’s hardly ever around anyway, so.

With Chang – Chang had been like a lost puppy who had nowhere to go and would just lie around the apartment all day watching People’s Court and whining that he was bored and leaving mysterious smells in his wake so that Jeff had to clean the entire apartment until he found the three-week old take out under the couch and yeah, it’s as gross as it sounds.

Annie, though, is always busy and always moving, like she has to fill in all those extra hours between sleeping and working. She hangs out with Abed and has lunch with Britta and baby-sits Shirley’s kids and actually goes and volunteers building houses and feeding the homeless and working at a local day camp on the weekends when the most Jeff ever accomplishes is beating his high score on Call of Duty.

Even when she’s home, she’s organizing or cleaning or threatening to clean something or getting up at 7:00 on a Saturday to do laundry.

“Don’t you ever stop?”

“What?” Annie looks up, confused.

“You know.” Jeff gestures to himself. “Relax?”

She frowns. “Of course.”

Jeff raises an eyebrow and shrugs, then turns his attention back to the television where Phineas and Ferb are building a time machine. Annie stares at him for a second before returning to her folding.

“I relax,” she says a minute later. Jeff laughs at the look on her face.

“Don’t stress out about it.”

“I’m not. But you-”

“Okay. Tell me this: have you ever spent an entire day just doing nothing?”

Annie’s brow furrows, “What do you mean, nothing?”

“I mean this.” Again, he points to himself. “A day of nothing. No productivity. No worries.”

“No worries?”

“Shut up.”

Annie laughs as she starts matching up her socks and rolling them into balls. “I have things to do. Not all of us like sitting around doing… nothing in our underwear.”

“I think you think you just insulted me, but… I can’t be insulted. I’m too relaxed.” He slouches further into the couch with a breezy grin and Annie narrows her eyes at him as she stands up.

“Hmmm. Maybe you’re too relaxed. Is that a beer gut, I spy?” She smirks and flounces toward the kitchen.

“What?!” He looks startled but then catches himself and laughs, “Nice try.” When he thinks she’s not looking through he pulls up his shirt and examines his abs with scrutinous eyes.

“You’re ridiculous,” she says from right behind him and he quickly drops his hand.

“Weren’t we talking about you?”

“You were. I’m ignoring you.”

“Impossible.” Jeff regards her thoughtfully as she sits back down with a bowl of cereal. “Whatever, you probably couldn’t do it anyway.”

“Do what?”

“Spend an entire day doing nothing. You wouldn’t last two hours.”

“Excuse me?”

Jeff shrugs, “It’s fine. You can’t be perfect at everything.” He feigns nonchalance, his gaze on the television.

“Ha!” She yells. And then narrows her eyes at him. He can practically see the wheels turning in her head as she munches on a mouthful of Raisin Bran. “Well, I hope you don’t have any plans today. Because I’m about to prove you wrong. I’m going to relax harder than anyone’s ever relaxed before.” Her voice is strained and tight and Jeff’s eyes widen.

“There’s irony here. I just can’t quite pinpoint what it is, exactly.” He clasps his hands together, steepling his index fingers and tapping them against his lips. Annie lets out a noise of annoyance, sets down her cereal and starts gathering her laundry.

Jeff’s about to say something when she suddenly stops, sends him a haughty smile and puts everything back down. “I’m just going to leave that there. Aaaaaall day.”

“Sure.”

They sit there in silence until Annie side-eyes him questioningly, “So. How do we start?”

Jeff laughs.

 

~*~*~

 

She slouches next to him on the couch, her arms folded over her chest. “I’m bored.”

“Good.”

“No one actually enjoys being bored, Jeff.”

He turns away from his video game, “I offered you a chance to play.”

“I’m not good at video games.” Annie picks at an invisible spot on his sofa, her mouth turned up in a scowl.

Jeff checks the time. “Hey, you made it a half hour. You can stop now, you know. Pick your laundry off the floor, go build an orphanage for some needy children or whatever you want.”

“I wasn’t building an orphanage. It was a day camp for inner city kids.”

“See, when you tell me these things, I’m really only pretending to listen.”

“Barely even pretending! You just say ‘uh-huh, uh-huh, cool’ when you’re really concentrating on texting or playing Angry Birds.”

“Uh-huh, uh-huh, cool, yeah, sure, good idea.” He stares intently at the television but there’s a hint of a smile pulling at his lips.

Annie shoves hard at his shoulder, “You’re a jerk.”

“Those words are pretty meaningless when I know you don’t mean them.” Jeff reaches over and flicks at her ponytail. “Look at you, you’re too worked up. This kind of defeats the purpose of a relaxing day.” He grins and she holds his gaze until something warm flickers there in his eyes and she can practically it feel against her skin.

Jeff clears his throat and pulls back, returning his attention toward the video game as Annie sinks lower into her corner of the couch and closes her eyes.

She doesn’t really mean to fall asleep – she just needs to avoid looking at him right now – but after a few minutes she starts to drift off on the distant sounds of gunplay from the game and it’s probably just a weird in-between-sleep-and-awake thing but there’s a moment she’s almost sure that she can feel his eyes on her as she dozes.

 

~*~*~

 

“Mmm. How long was I sleeping?

“Um, about an hour. You move a lot in your sleep.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s cool. I… You looked cold.”

“Oh. Thank you.”

“Yeah.”

 

~*~*~

 

“Why is she taking him back?! He cheated on her!” Annie looks over at him in exasperation as if he has something to do with the horrible decision making abilities of a bunch of over-tanned famewhores.

They’re still on the couch, three hours into a Jersey Shore marathon. Annie’s legs are crossed, her knee pressed into Jeff’s thigh. She’s got a bowl of popcorn in her lap and a can of Sprite propped up on the other knee as she eyes the woman on screen with a scowl. “The people on this show are horrible.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s the point.”

She shakes her head, appalled, and turns her attention back to Sammi and Ronnie who are currently engaged in post-reconciliation canoodling. Jeff watches her. “I can’t believe you’ve never watched the Jersey Shore before.”

Annie shrugs, “ I didn’t have cable at my apartment. It was too expensive. And my mom never let me watch TV at her house, so.” She shudders at the goings-on onscreen. “What does she even see in him? He’s gross.”

Jeff snorts loudly and gets up, patting her on the knee. “I don’t think anyone with actual self-respect will ever understand. You want Chinese?”

“Mmmhmmm.” Her eyes don’t leave the screen as she slowly reaches for a handful of popcorn. And okay, it turns out that Annie’s better at this relaxing thing than expected. Or at least somewhat. She is getting awfully worked up about these people. But it makes sense. A complacent Annie would be much too disconcerting.

Jeff’s rifling through the drawer of takeout menus as Annie continues to yell at the television, when suddenly the lights flicker once and then in a loud descending hum, go out completely and plunge the apartment into a weird, dim silence.

“Um.” Those both freeze as if they aren’t completely sure for a second what’s just happened.

Jeff groans and flicks the light switch. “Power’s out.”

Annie blinks at the blank television screen. “Now what?”

 

~*~*~*~

 

It’s nearly 4:00 and the power’s still out. Jeff calls the electric company, has a brief conversation with a woman he can barely understand and then hangs up, throwing the phone somewhere under the coffee table and throwing himself down dramatically on the couch.

“The entire neighborhood’s out. The electrical grid was overloaded. Or something. It could be hours before it’s back on.”

Annie sighs loudly and turns another page in her book. She’s curled up in the armchair, her legs hanging over the side as she reads. “And I could have been out doing something productive with my day.” She’s practically tsking at him like this is his fault.

“Hey, you were the one who took up the challenge, Miss I’m Gonna Win at Fucking Relaxing.” He can’t quite hear her response but she mutters something about glass houses and he tunes her out and throws an arm over his eyes because, whatever, he so does not do that.

The apartment’s already getting uncomfortably warm and he tugs on the collar of his shirt and groans inwardly. They’ve opened the windows but it’s 95 degrees outside and only the hint of a breeze wafts in at unpredictable intervals. It’s going to be unbearable soon.

A few minutes later he hears her book slam shut. “It’s hot,” she whines. Jeff peeks at her from under his arm and he can see that the little tendrils of hair at the nape of her neck are starting to stick, damp with sweat, to her skin. He imagines moving over to her, pulling her down to the floor and showing her all the much more interesting things they could do to make her even hotter.

Shit.

“Right. Okay. Get up. We’re going out.” He stands up quickly. Annie’s head rolls back and she looks about ready to start whining some more so he grabs her hand and pulls her out of the chair.

“Jeff! I’m not dressed to go out!”

“Well go put some shorts on, whatever. It doesn’t matter.”

Annie looks doubtful as she heads towards the bathroom. “Where are you taking me?”

“You’ll see.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

“This place is creepy.”

“But see, now you don’t feel underdressed, do you?”

Annie glances around, settling next to him on a barstool. She’s driven past this place a hundred times and never once considered walking in - passing it off as skeezy and possibly infested with bugs, or perverts. The neon sign above the doorway is always partially unlit, buzzing and crackling as if it’s threatening to go completely out at any moment; the grimy, possibly-used-to-be-a-different-color-than-gray paint is cracked and peeling; there’s one trashcan sitting by the door in a constant state of overflow; and no matter what time of day it is there are always a few lonely beat-up cars in the dirt lot that serves as a parking lot.

Inside is pretty much…. No, exactly what she expected - sad and dirty. A handful of random pictures hang slightly askew on the wall, two of which are the exact same picture of a young John Wayne; there’s a pool table in the corner; a few tables strewn about; and about five patrons who all look like they hadn’t left in days.

This is not where she pictured Jeff hanging out but he seems comfortable, like he’s been here a million times as he flags down the bartender, a tall beefy guy with a head full of frizzy hair.

“Hey, Jeff.”

“Hey, Kenny. My usual?” Jeff turns to Annie in question but she just stares at him. He smirks. “And she’ll have the same. Oh, and throw in a basket of fries.” Once Kenny nods and walks away Jeff leans into her, “Their fries are pretty good.”

Annie continues staring at him.

“What?”

“Well.” Annie looks around, unsure of how to phrase it, “This place doesn’t exactly scream, frequented by Jeff Winger, wearer of $300 jeans. This isn’t where you come to…?”

Jeff follows her gaze to a woman at the back of the bar wearing an oversized sweatshirt with a Mickey Mouse emblazoned across the front, slouched over a glass of something amber. “No!” He says indignantly. “Please. This is where I come when I want a beer and to be alone.”

“Oh. So you took me to the place where I’m most likely to assaulted by a sexual offender.” Annie scoots further forward on her seat as if she’s afraid of contacting some kind of disease from the cracked vinyl.

Jeff watches her with a grin. “Snob.”

Annie gasps.

“Don’t worry. It’s harmless in here. Trust me.”

Kenny comes back and plunks two beers down in front of them. Annie smiles at him. “Thank you.”

He winks. “Milady,” and walks away.

Annie’s eyes widen a little as she glances sideways at Jeff. He laughs and holds up his beer. “Cheers.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

“I think he misses Troy.”

“How can you tell?”

“Jeff.”

“I’m just saying. Troy acted like he was going off to war. Abed just sort of,” Jeff tilts his head to the side and gives a short little wave. “It was a little one sided.”

“He doesn’t show his emotion the same way the rest of us do. I think that’s okay.”

“Huh.”

“What? What’s that face for?”

“There’s no face. Just… nevermind.”

Annie glares at him. “You’re…”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

With chin in hand, Annie watches the six o’clock news flickering silently on the television mounted above the bar. She absentmindedly runs her finger around the rim of empty beer glass in front of her.

Finally Jeff sighs, “Promise you won’t tell anyone?”

Annie grins slowly and nods. She presses her lips together and mimes locking them, then holds out the imaginary key. Jeff rolls his eyes as he pretends to take it and throw it over his shoulder.

“Okay.” He leans in and Annie follows his lead, their heads tilted close together. “I’ve never… learned to ski.” Annie’s eyes widen a little as if she’s waiting for him to continue. When he doesn’t she pulls back with a sigh.

“That’s not… Jeff! That’s not a secret.”

“You knew?!” he exclaims in mock horror.

“That’s not what I mean.”

“Annie, I don’t have secrets.”

She turns back toward the television but under her breath she starts humming the melody to George Michael’s “Faith.”

“Wow. NOT cool. How many times have you watched that thing anyway?”

Annie shrugs, “It never gets old.”

“I’m glad my embarrassment causes you so much amusement.”

“Aww, Jeff.” She pushes at his shoulder so that he tilts away. “Don’t be sad.”

“Pshhh. I’m not sad. I do need another drink though.” He signals to Kenny for another round of beers.

Annie watches his profile, then leans in and lowers her voice. “It’s okay, you know.”

Jeff looks at her, and there’s a seriousness to his eyes – something unguarded – that’s only there for a second before his typical wall of snarky indifference goes back up and he laughs, “That I can’t ski? Cause I don’t know. I’ve been told that it’s a pretty unforgivable offense.”

There’s a momentary surge of annoyance in her chest because why can’t he just… But Annie shakes it off. “Well, your secret’s safe with me.”

“Thanks.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Three hours and two beers later, Jeff is lounging back in a chair against the wall, his legs stretched out long in front of him and crossed at the ankles. The alcohol running through his veins leaves him feeling pleasantly buzzed as he watches Annie through heavy eyes. 

She’s standing in front of the dartboard, eyeing it with a clenched jaw as she angles her body and takes a deep breath. And then another.

“Oh. My. God. Just throw it.”

“Shh. You’re ruining my concentration.” Annie licks her lips, takes another breath and finally throws the dart with a flick of her wrist. They both watch as it sails through the air and hits a spot just above the board. It sticks to the wall for a brief second before clattering to the ground.

“Ugh!”

“How. Do you keep doing that?” Jeff laughs through his words. “You’ve been practicing for hours.”

Annie scowls and stomps over to grab the dart off the ground. “Maybe, you’re just a bad teacher.”

“Or maybe, your hand-eye coordination sucks.” He stands up and stretches his arms above his head, “I think it’s time to give up.”

“No! Jeff, practice makes perfect.”

“Uh, if you’re planning on perfecting that? Then you’re going to be practicing for a loooooong ass time. And this places closes at 2:00.”

“I wouldn’t insult the woman with the sharp, pointy objects in her hand, if I were you.”

Jeff holds up his hand in surrender. “Okay, okay. Go for it.”

Annie turns toward the board again, but as she lines up the dart, Jeff steps in close behind her and circles his fingers around her wrist. He drops his other hand to her waist. Annie throws a startled glance up at him but then relaxes and lets him guide her movements. This time when she throws the dart, it flies straight and sticks to a spot two inches to the right of the bullseye.

“Yes!” She throws her fist up in the air and bounces a little on the balls of her toes, reaching up to wrap one arm around Jeff in a victory hug. He laughs and allows himself to be pulled down.

“Seriously, you suck at his game,” he whispers in her ear.

She smacks him as she pulls away but she smiles and backs up toward the bar. “And just for that, you have to buy me another drink.”

Jeff grins and follows.

 

~*~*~

 

“Britta?”

He glances sideways at her. “Not anymore.”

“Not even just sex?”

Jeff raises an eyebrow and Annie purses her lips together, seemingly surprised at her own question. He laughs. “Uh. It’s been awhile.”

“Hmm.” She flushes and chews at the end of her straw. After her last beer she had called it quits and moved onto ice water and another basket of fries.

“So, tell me,” he starts. Annie looks up at him with bright eyes and he’s pretty sure that he could get her to answer any question he asked right now. “What actually happened with Trevor?”

Her shoulders slump slightly. “Nothing.”

“Annie.”

“It’s…” She shifts uncomfortably. “He got jealous.”

Jeff stills, “Of wh... what?”

“The group.” Annie rests her chin on her palm, turning away from him slightly. “He said he was tired of always coming second. So. I made a choice.” She sighs a little and finally meets his eyes, “It was kind of a no-brainer.”

Jeff nods, not sure if he should feel smug or guilty. Or even terrified at the idea that some guy, some day, was going to come first.

They’re quiet for a long moment and Jeff takes the chance to really look around the bar for the first time all night. The woman in the Disney sweatshirt is still there near the back but it’s after ten on a Saturday so it’s a little more crowded now – there’s a middle-aged man in a business suit a couple seats down the bar, a couple in the corner booth making out sloppily, and a group of guys around Annie’s age playing a game of pool and occasionally breaking into loud shouts of laughter as they pound back pint after pint of beer. A mousy waitress with fake boobs that Jeff recognizes from past visits is leaning next to the beer tap, examining her nails.

“Maybe we should get married.”

Jeff whips his head back around to stare at Annie, “Huh-what?”

She laughs. “All of us. Just, get married to each other and move to Utah and live on a communal farm, or something.” Her voice is a little dreamy as she closes her eyes, seemingly picturing this. Jeff wonders how drunk she actually is.

“So you and Britta and Shirley can be sister-wives?”

Her eyes open as she nods, “And you and Troy and Abed would be brother-husbands.” At the disturbed look on Jeff’s face, she giggles. “Oh! But don’t forget Pierce.”

“Annie, this conversation is disturbing enough as it is.”

“Awww, he wouldn’t want to be left out though. Oh! I know. He can be the wise old grandpa figure that sits on the porch in a rocking chair and plays the harmonica. The kids will love him.”

“First, wise? Really? Think about your choice of words there. Second, I thought we were talking polygamy, not an episode of Little House on the Prairie. And third, kids? Jeff shudders.

Annie rolls her eyes. “Is the idea of having kids really that horrifying?”

“Kids in general, no. But raising kids with our group of friends? Yes. Half the time we can’t even decide on a place to go to dinner. Merging everyone’s parenting styles?”

“Oh.” Annie looks troubled.

“Not to mention the fact that Abed will insist on naming them all after iconic television characters. So unless you’ve always dreamed about having a son named MacGyver.”

“Noooo. What about Lucy?”

“Homer.”

“Rachel.”

“Buffy.”

“I actually knew a Buffy in high school… She was kind of a bitch.”

Jeff chugs down the last of his beer. “It’s a sign.”

“That we shouldn’t get married?”

He looks over, something twisting low in his stomach. Her eyes are playful though. “Yup. It would never work.”

Annie nods gravely. “Too bad.”

“Yup.”

A beat later she tilts her head to the side, deep in thought. “You know, the more I think about it though, MacGyver would actually be a pretty cute name for a-”

“No.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

It’s still warm outside when they exit the bar sometime after eleven. Annie’s face is a little red and flushed as she walks backwards, facing him, and Jeff follows her with a smile, reaching out an arm to pull her to the side before she backs into a lamp post.

“Careful, drunky.”

She laughs and twirls around so she’s next to him. Her arm loops through his. “This was a good idea.”

“The multiple beers?”

“No. Relaxing. Hanging out together. We’ve never done that before.”

“Annie, we hang out all the time. We’ve been living together for three weeks.” He hits the unlock button on his car and goes around to open the passenger side door for her.

“You know what I mean.” She moves to slide into her seat but then pauses, “Jeff, you’ve been drinking.”

 

“I’ve had four beers over the past seven hours. We’re three blocks away. I’m fine.”

Annie scrutinizes his face, getting up on her toes to look at his eyes. “Are you sure? Follow my finger.”

“Annie.” He bats her hand away but she slips away from him and crosses her arms over her chest.

“I’m not getting in.”

“Oh good god. Look. I’m fine.” He alternates touching his nose with both fingers, then stands on one leg, feeling like an idiot. “See? Now get in the car.”

Annie sighs, “Better safe than sorry.” But she looks appeased and finally gets in. When Jeff starts the car she immediately starts messing with the radio.

“Hands off.”

“Grouch.” She sticks her tongue out at him, and then Jeff wants to smack himself in the face a little bit because he actually returns the gesture, making her laugh.

They drive the few blocks back to his apartment, with no incidents, the streets quiet and empty at the late hour. When they pull up into the parking lot of his complex though it’s obvious that the electricity is still out. In the safety of the car, with the air conditioning blasting, they both peer up at the kitchen window to Jeff’s apartment. Annie’s nose scrunches up. “It’s probably really hot in there.”

“Ugh.” Jeff rests his head on the steering wheel, accidentally hitting it too hard and honking the horn.

“You’re going to wake up all your neighbors.”

Jeff looks up with a groan but then his eyes catch sight of something out the window – a cool, refreshing something. “Come on. I have an idea.”

Annie follows him out of the car but stops when she sees him heading toward the locked gate of the pool.

“Jeff!” She hisses loudly, “We’re not allowed to. It’s after hours.”

“Oh come on. These are special circumstances. Live dangerously. I’ll give you a boost.”

Annie still looks troubled but it is still uncomfortably hot, so. She sighs and moves toward him, stepping up onto his knee like he indicates and reaching for the top of the gate to pull herself up. She struggles a little to get all the way over until Jeff grasps her waist and helps and then she drops easily to the other side.

Jeff cocks his head and watches her through the bars, “I could just leave you here, you know.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“They’d find you here in the morning, the hooligan that broke into the pool after hours.” He shakes his head in mock sadness. “It’s always the ones that look innocent, right? What will people say?”

Annie tries to smack at him through the bars but he dodges away laughing and then easily hoists himself up and over the gate. He’s realized though that this might not be the most ingenious plan. What are they going to swim in? Their underwear? Cause that would be a bad idea. Very bad.

Right?

But Annie’s kicked off her flip-flops and is sitting at the edge of the pool, dangling her legs into the cool water and not looking in any way like she’s about to strip off her clothes. Jeff drops his phone and keys on a lounge chair and then rolls his pants up as much as possible and joins her, the bottom of his jeans still dragging heavy into the water.

They sit there, shoulder to shoulder, in comfortable silence, the only sound coming from chirping crickets and the soft lap of water at the sides of the pool. Annie forgets about the possibility of getting caught and her entire body seems to unwind and unravel until she leans into him and rests her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes.

Jeff looks down at her, then edges slightly closer so she doesn’t have to leans so far but at his movement she stirs a little, turning her face into the fabric of his tee-shirt and sort of nuzzling his arm with her nose before pulling away and blinking sleepily at him.

“I win.”

“What?” He’s genuinely confused at the look of self-satisfaction that spreads across her face.

“I win. You didn’t think I could spend an entire day doing nothing. And I did. So, ha!”

“You’re ridiculous.” Jeff shakes his head, looking up at the sky.

Her predictable gasp is cut short as just then, with a loud hum, the apartment complex buzzes back to life - lights flickering back on in windows, the streetlamps in the parking lot flooding the place with a brightness that is almost blinding after sitting out in the moonless night.

Someone in one of the apartments shouts, “Finally!” and Jeff looks over his shoulder in the direction of the noise. Annie takes advantage of his distraction and shoves at him, hard, and it catches him off guard enough that he slips sideways and topples into the pool with a shout. He comes up sputtering, and immediately lunges toward her.

“Oh no you don’t.” She’s trying to stand up but she’s laughing too hard and Jeff gets to her before she can get away. He tugs on her arm and she struggles for only a second before he overpowers her and she’s crashing into the pool with him, shrieking loudly.

“Shhhh. We could get in trouble,” he mimics her earlier concerns but she only splashes him with a face full of water. “Hey!” Jeff reaches and gets an arm around her, pulling her closer to ward off another attack. She continues kicking even as she’s pressed against him and they’re both near hysterics as he struggles to keep a hold on her.

Somewhere nearby a door opens and then slams and they both freeze, breathing hard.

“Jeff?” she whispers.

“Crap. Go. Go.” He hoists Annie up out of the pool and then as fast as possible, in wet heavy clothes, they get back over the gate and run toward his apartment, laughing the entire way.


	4. Chapter 4

They fall into a routine.

On weekdays, Annie’s usually gone by the time Jeff gets out of the shower but there’s always a pot of hot coffee waiting, along with a cheerful post-it note telling him to Have a good day!!! in her neat cursive. The first few mornings he just crumples up the note and tosses it in the trash but each day, without fail, a new one appears, sometimes with a different message like, Happy Friday!!! or Tengo un buen dia!!! And he’d be lying if he said they didn’t occasionally make him smile.

He stops throwing them away and starts sticking them to random spots on the fridge so that soon it’s covered with fluorescent post-its in various shades that flutter whenever the door’s opened or closed.

Most nights Annie gets home from work first and when she makes dinner for herself she always makes a little extra. Jeff straggles in at different hours but if she’s not doing anything else she’ll sit at the counter and keep him company while he warms up his food and tells her stories about Alan and the guys at work. Or, on the rare occasions that Jeff gets home first, he’ll make dinner and Annie is somehow surprised to learn that he’s a really good cook.

When she asks him about it he mumbles something about growing up with a single mom, but doesn’t elaborate. Annie doesn’t press for more details.

And then there are the days when they’re both hanging around the apartment – late at night or on the weekends – and Jeff will stretch out on the couch watching whatever bad reality show the E! Channel is currently running on marathon and Annie will curl up in the armchair with a book from her self-imposed Summer Reading List and they’ll go hours without saying anything.

But sometimes, a stray comment will go down the rabbit hole of random conversation about anything – Jeff lying reclined on the floor after doing pushups, Annie sitting at the counter with her laptop; or him leaning against the doorframe of the bathroom while she perches on the edge of the tub painting her toenails and explaining the finer points of her hair care regimen.

(And for the record, she’s never allowed to call him vain, ever again.)

 

~*~*~

 

It’s an early Saturday night when Jeff walks into the kitchen to find almost the entire counter covered in bowls of food – sliced olives and mushrooms, green peppers, tomatoes, onions, pineapple, grated cheese – and Annie rolling out store-bought pizza dough onto a cookie sheet.

“Throwing a party?” Jeff pops an olive into his mouth and leans against the counter.

“Abed’s coming over for movie night.” She looks up at him, concerned. “I thought you had a date. I didn’t think it would be a problem.”

“No. That’s cool,” he answers slowly. “Movie night?”

“Mmmhmm. Normally Troy and I are in charge of the food and Abed brings the movies. He usually picks some kind of theme like ‘bank robberies’ or ‘Will Smith saves the world.’” Annie wrinkles her nose up at this last one. “Last time it was ‘road trip.’ We watched The Sure Thing and Thelma and Louise.”

“Huh.”

At the sharp tone in his voice, Annie smirks and eyes him knowingly. “We invite you all the time and you always have something better to do.”

Jeff hikes his guard up, all the way. “Whatever.” He opens the fridge door, realizes he doesn’t want anything in there and then shuts it again. “Did you think I cared? Cause I don’t.”

“Please,” she retorts, throwing a slice of green pepper at him. It bounces harmlessly off his shoulder and lands on the floor.

“Hey! Watch it. This is a clean shirt.”

Annie’s gaze slides down his body, taking in the dark blue button-down and jeans he’s wearing. “You look nice,” she says casually as she sticks the sheet of pizza dough in the oven. “What was her name again?”

“Stephanie.”

“Does she spell it with a ‘q-u’?” she asks, not a little snidely, as she starts slicing more tomatoes. “Where are you taking her?”

Under absolutely no circumstances does he want or need to talk about his dating life with Annie, but he’s not an idiot to sense that there’s some underlying jealousy going on here, right? “Um. That Italian place on First.”

“Great!”

Yep. Her voice is laced with a false, high-pitched, cheeriness and Jeff feels a stupidly warm sensation spreading across his chest. He can’t help but grin now as he starts to walk out of the kitchen, but Annie continues, “You should invite her to your birthday party.”

Hold up.

He takes two large steps backwards and spins to face her. “Annie.”

“What?” She looks at him, her eyes wide.

“What did I tell you?”

“Oh, come on Jeff. It’s your birthday!”

“Exactly. Which means that I get to celebrate any way I choose. Including, choosing not to celebrate.”

“But-”

“Trust me. One of these days you’ll understand. The novelty of a birthday wears off sometime after twenty-five.”

“That doesn’t have to be true. You can make it novel. With a party. And your friends. And we want to celebrate with you.”

“Annie.” Jeff holds up his hand. “This isn’t a fight you’re going to win.” Annie doesn’t say anything, just looks up at the ceiling with a huff. “Okay? Promise me. No birthday cake. No streamers. No stupid party hats. No singing telegrams.”

“Are singing telegrams actually a thing outside of movies? Because I’ve never-”

“Annie.”

“Ugh. Fine.”

“Thank you.”

“I guess I’ll call and cancel the bouncy castle,” she sighs loudly.

Jeff arches an eyebrow. “That better be sarcasm.”

“Oh. You still want the bouncy castle?” She grins.

He points at her, backing out of the kitchen again. “No clowns either.”

“Ew.”

“Or balloon animal makers. Or cotton candy machines. Or piñatas.”

“Party pooper!” She yells at him as he retreats into his room.

 

~*~*~

 

Stephanie is a leggy redhead that laughs at all his jokes while suggestively trailing her perfectly manicured fingers down the stem of her wine glass and it’s all absolutely working for him, but about halfway through dinner Jeff realizes that he’s been spending most of the evening wishing that he was back in his apartment watching movies with Annie and Abed.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Annie hiccups and grabs another tissue from the box on the coffee table. She blows her nose and leans back into Abed’s shoulder.

“Abed, this movie was terrible. Why’d you pick it?”

“I thought you’d like it.”

“Why?!”

He frowns. “Normally, I don’t like these kinds of movies because I can see through the cheap emotional manipulation. But you’re a highly emotional person and-”

“I’m not highly emotional.” Annie pulls away.

“It’s not a criticism. You wouldn’t be Annie if you weren’t.”

She contemplates his words, still looking unsure as to whether or not she’s been insulted. Her entire head feels swollen and achy from crying. They’ve just finished watching Marley and Me and the chosen theme for the night – “tear jerkers” – is living up to its name.

“Okay. Maybe I occasionally display my feelings in an emotional-type way. But I prefer to think of myself as expressive. And that doesn’t mean that I like crying. Or like watching a movie that makes me cry so hard I go through a box of tissues.”

“What about The Notebook? You like The Notebook.”

“That’s different. That’s romantic.”

“Hmm. Interesting.” Abed reaches over the arm of the sofa and grabs a notepad out of his bag, jotting something down while Annie watches, perplexed.

“What are you doing?”

“I’ve decided that my film lacks an emotional core. Explosions and special effects bring in the big bucks, but an audience needs a reason to care. That’s why summer blockbusters don’t win Oscars.”

“Soooooo, you’re trying to figure out what makes people cry?”

“Exactly.”

“Wait.” Annie’s eyes narrow. “Did you pick this movie so you could do some kind of study on me? Because I’m highly emotional?”

Abed’s eyes shift away. “No. Yes. Sorry.”

“Abed!”

“But I would have hung out with you anyway.”

“Okay...” Annie trails off, biting her bottom lip and trying not to feel hurt because she likes this time she gets to spend with him and she had been elated when he and Troy started inviting her to hang out more. “Well, at least warn me next time.”

“Gotcha.” He finishes writing something and then flips the notebook closed and gets up to put in another movie. Annie hugs a pillow to her chest, her eyes tracing his movement across the room.

“Have you talked to Troy lately?”

“We video chat every morning while we eat breakfast. Unless his mom is around. She’s not a big fan of technology.”

“Do you miss him?”

“Of course,” he answers immediately as he sits back down.

“Why?”

“Because.” Abed pauses, like he hadn’t even considered needing a reason. “He’s my best friend.”

Annie’s surprised at the wave of feelings that sweeps over her. She wonders if she’ll ever be so unflinchingly certain about something. Or someone.

It takes her a moment to choke it back but she smiles softly as she curls her legs up onto the couch and rests her head against his arm. She reaches for his hand. “You know, you don’t have to study other people to figure out what makes someone emotional. You understand it better than you think you do.”

Abed looks a little startled as he stares down at their entwined fingers. He doesn’t say anything but he squeezes her hand in his, ever so slightly.

“So, what’s next?”

“My Girl.”

Annie sighs, “I’m going to need more tissue.”

 

~*~*~

 

It’s late, past midnight, when Jeff’s keying into the apartment, wondering idly if Annie’s still awake. She usually stays up later on the weekends and there’s a marathon of Real Housewives on the DVR and a pint of ice cream in the fridge that he wouldn’t mind putting a dent in.

The television’s still flickering quietly as he opens the door. “Hey,” he starts, but then immediately falls silent, frozen in the doorway, as he realizes that Annie’s not alone, or awake. She and Abed are curled up on the couch, her head resting on his chest, his arm slung around her shoulders. They are both sound asleep. Jeff stares, his hand clenching around his keys painfully before kicking the door shut behind him with more force than necessary.

The pair on the couch jerk awake, blinking in surprise.

“Oh sorry. Did I wake you?” He asks, in a less than apologetic voice, striding toward the kitchen.

“Hmm?” Annie rubs at her eyes and stretches her legs out with a creaky groan. “We fell asleep.”

“Clearly.”

Abed yawns loudly, untangling himself and shifting to sit at the edge of the couch to put his shoes on. “I should go.”

“You can stay if you want. It’s really late.” Annie’s voice is a little husky, groggy with sleep and in the kitchen Jeff slams his glass down a little too hard.

“Nah. My dad doesn’t like it when I don’t come home.”

Annie nods, without questioning it, and then lets Abed pull her up so she can walk him to the door. She leans into him and wraps her arms around him in a hug, murmering a "goodnight" into his shoulder.

Abed pats her back, sends Jeff a halfhearted wave, and leaves.

Annie peers toward Jeff sleepily, “There’s leftover pizza in the fridge, if you want some.”

“Great.”

She misses the irritated growl in his voice and throws him a soft smile as she heads into the bathroom. Jeff leans his forearms on the counter, a glass of water held between his hands. He’s not completely sure what he just walked in on but it felt…intimate, and a part of him would have rather just caught them having sex on the couch because at least that, that he would understand.

He thinks abut hanging out at the bar with her the other night, the way she leaned into him as she laughed, the careless way she’d curl her hand around his arm, the warm press of her body against his when they fell in the pool, and he thought –

Fuck, he doesn’t know what he thought.

When she comes out of the bathroom in her PJ’s a few minutes later Jeff starts in without pretense because whatever, it’s late and as her roommate he should at least have the facts straight, right?

“So. You and Abed.”

“Me and Abed, what?”

Jeff widens his eyes and gestures toward the couch. Annie shakes her head, still looking confused. “I don’t know-”

“What’s going on with you two?”

“Oh. Nothing, Jeff. We’re friends.”

“Friends who cuddle?”

“Maybe.”

“And make out.”

She glares at him, clearly annoyed. “That was once. A year ago. Besides, you and I made out and it didn’t mean anything.” There’s a challenging bite to her words, followed by a pointed eyebrow raise.

Jeff feels something settle heavy into the pit of his stomach. He tries to swallow it away but it’s just there. The palms of his hands itch as he watches her start to make up the bed on the couch, her stiff movements relaying her irritation.

Hell, he really doesn’t want to fight with her right now. Especially over this.

“So… What was tonight’s movie theme?”

Annie pauses in what she’s doing to glance across the room at him. When their eyes meet, Jeff gives her a lopsided smile, begging her silently to understand that he just wants to let this one go. After a second, her shoulders visibly relax.

“Tearjerkers. We watched Marley and Me and My Girl. It was horrible.”

“Well, that explains the Kleenex all over the floor.”

“Abed told me that I’m highly emotional.”

“He wouldn’t be wrong about that.”

Annie rolls her eyes at him and drops down onto the couch, pulling the blankets over her legs. “So how was your date?”

“Oh. Fine.”

“Are you going to see her again?”

Jeff tilts his glass this way and that, watching the contents slosh back and forth. “Probably not.”

Annie doesn’t seem to have a response to this. She just curls herself up into her pillow with a hum.

“I’ll should let you sleep.”

“M’kay.”

Jeff stands there a minute or so longer, frowning at the counter, before setting his glass in the sink and then moving quietly through the apartment to flick off all the lights and double check that the door is locked. He steals a quick look at her – already asleep again, her mouth parted slightly as she breathes steadily in and out - before he shuts himself in his room. Without changing, he lays on his bed over the covers, flipping through random infomercials before finally falling into a restless sleep a few hours later.

 

~*~*~

 

Two days later when Jeff walks into the kitchen for his morning cup of coffee the post-it note on the counter reads, “Happy Birthday!” with an accompanying smiley face. He grins and immediately presses it into an empty spot on the fridge.

No one at work knows it’s his birthday, which is good because Alan would have only used it as an excuse to go and get drunk in the middle of the day, and acting like a twenty-one year old frat guy would only have made Jeff feel older and more pathetic. He eats lunch by himself at a corner table at the café down the street but he flirts with the waitress and manages to score some extra fries so he counts it as a success.

Throughout the day he gets four phone calls: one from his mom that’s part a Happy Birthday message and part a why has it been so long since I’ve seen you guilt trip; one from Shirley wishing him a blessed birthday from her and Jesus; one from Troy that starts, “Hey man, just wishing you a good…” and ends, “…random Tuesday in your life” when it’s clear that his mom has just walked into the room; and one from Dean Pelton that… does not need to be repeated.

There’s also a text from Britta saying that she’d call but she’s out of town and doesn’t want to pay for roaming.

He doesn’t hear from Annie all day.

At 4:30, he’s sitting at his desk staring blankly at his computer screen and contemplating cutting out early when suddenly Abed is standing in front of him.

Jeff’s eyes widen as he glances around. “Uh, hey buddy.”

“Hey Jeff.” His head tilts to the side ever so slightly and Jeff can’t help but feel unnerved.

“Did you need something?”

“Oh. I figured that in your state of heightened vulnerability you would be considering leaving early. It’s your birthday, right?”

“Uh. I do not have heightened vulnerability.” Abed’s eyebrows go up in response and Jeff pulls back in his chair a little, perturbed. “How do you --?” But then he cuts himself off, holds up his hand and stands, “Nevermind. Spare me the details. Let’s go.”

 

~*~*~

 

They end up at The Ballroom, sitting at a corner booth and Jeff is surprised at how suddenly exhausted he feels sitting there across from his friend.

“Birthdays suck.”

“Only because of our unrealistic expectations.”

“No. I wasn’t expecting anything.”

“Weren’t you?”

Jeff face is blank for a moment before he smiles and leans back, resting one arm over the back of the booth. “Oh this should be good.” He gestures with his other hand for Abed to continue. “Okay. What was I expecting?”

Abed takes a sip of his beer and frowns, “You’re selfish, Jeff.”

“Everybody’s selfish. Mother Teresa was selfish.”

“Maybe. But you know what your problem is?”

“Enlighten me.”

“You don’t know what you want.”

“You know what I want Abed?” Jeff leans forward, “I want to be a lawyer again. I want to not have to work for a guy that shows up wasted to court. I want to live my life without running commentary from my friends.”

Abed looks away and Jeff scrubs his hands over his face, slumping forward in frustration.

“Is it too much to ask that I just stop getting older?”

“It’s better than the alternative.”

Jeff laughs at this and tilts back the rest of his drink. “Maybe you’re right.” At Abed’s inquisitive look he shrugs, “Maybe I don’t know what I want.”

The waitress comes by to check on them, sending a shy smile towards Abed when he hands her his empty glass and their fingers touch.

“Thanks.” And then he winks at her, causing a pink flush to spread up into her cheeks.

Jeff stifles a smile at the exchange, raising his eyebrows meaningfully once she’s gone.

“She’s cute.”

Abed thinks about it. “You know, there’s nothing going on between me and Annie.”

Jeff is startled at the sudden change in subject. “Uh. Yeaaaaaah. She told me. You don’t think I care do you?”

“Don’t you?”

“No?” Jeff wants to defend himself, declare once and for all that he’s not jealous and doesn’t care who Annie does or doesn’t date but he already knows where that conversation leads. Especially with Abed. And he’s not in the mood for anymore self-analyzing tonight.

Abed’s staring at him intently and Jeff scowls, “You’re doing a voiceover in your head aren’t you?”

“I can’t help it.” He at least has the decency to look semi-guilty about it and Jeff can’t help but laugh.

“Thanks for keeping it to yourself.”

The waitress returns then with a second round of drinks and a napkin with a number and a name written on it in red pen that she coyly slides in front of Abed.

“Enjoy,” she says breathlessly and then hurries off as if she’s embarrassed.

Abed pockets the napkin and Jeff looks awed.

“You are a god.”

 

~*~*~

 

When he gets home Annie is on the couch surrounded by what looks like hundreds of brochures. “Hey!” she chirps, barely looking up. “I made chicken. There’s some in the fridge.”

“Thanks. What is that?”

“Grad school research. I’m trying to narrow it down to my favorites.”

Jeff toes at a glossy brochure sitting by the coffee table, “Johns Hopkins? Isn’t that on the east coast?”

“Yeah,” she answers distractedly as she starts a new pro/con list, writing in loopy handwriting at the top, University of Washington. Jeff frowns as he heads towards the kitchen.

When he turns the light on he braces himself for balloons to fall from the ceiling, or confetti to shoot out of the sink, or something insane, but nothing happens and he can’t help the surge of feeling he’s been unable to shake all day - something like disappointment. Which is crazy because he told her not to celebrate. He doesn’t want to celebrate. Still…

He opens the fridge.

And almost instantly that dissapointment disapates because sitting there, on the middle of the top shelf, is a round homemade cake frosted in chocolate and covered in sprinkles, his name scrawled across the top in blue icing.

“Annie,” he says a little warningly. Suddenly she’s right next to him and he can feel the enthusiasm radiating off her so much so that he can’t help but grin like an idiot into the fridge. He schools his features into indifference before turning to her though. “I thought I told you no birthday cake.”

“It’s not a birthday cake. It’s a cake. That has your name on it. And today happens to be your birthday, yes. But that is not a birthday cake. It’s a Jeff-cake!”

He’s failing terribly at trying to look stern because honestly, he can’t remember the last time someone even made a cake for him, let alone called it something ridiculously adorable like a Jeff-cake and he’s going to end up with a sugar rush before he even eats the damn thing.

“I spent my lunch break making it and I was worried that you’d come home early but-“

“Okay, okay.” The corners of his mouth twitch up into a smile.

Annie grins and claps her hands together, kind of pushing him out of the way as she moves to get it out of the fridge. “I knew you’d cave.”

“Uh. I didn’t cave to anything. I’m not going to let a perfectly good dessert go to waste.”

And then, seemingly from thin air, Annie has materialized a pack of matches and a candle in the shape of a question mark that she presses into the middle of the cake.

“Annie, you know how old I am.” He laughs and flicks at the candle.

“Yes. I do. But…” She trails off and eyes him meaningfully and he actually feels himself start to get embarrassed, maybe even blush a little. He looks away before she can see it.

“Whatever. I don’t like getting older. Sue me.”

“No one cares how old you are, Jeff.” She strikes a match and lights the wick. “Haaaaa-” she starts with a little giggle in her throat before Jeff cuts her off, two fingers pressed to her lips.

“Don’t ruin it.”

“Okay. No singing. But you have to make a wish.”

“You know, I’m starting to wonder if this is just a cake. There seem to be a lot of terms and conditions involved.”

“Make a wish, Jeff.” Annie leans up and forward a bit, into his space. He grins down at her and then regards the cake thoughtfully.

“Okay, I wish-”

“No!” She yelps and mirrors his earlier action by pressing her finger to his mouth. “If you say it out loud it won’t come true.”

He raises an eyebrow, his lips puckering out in thought, almost as if he’s kissing the pads of Annie’s fingers. Her eyes widen a little in the light of the flickering candle and she slides her finger away, lingering briefly on his chin before tucking her hand safely behind her back and nodding at the cake.

Jeff closes his eyes and blows out the candle without further argument.

A few minutes later Annie is perched on the counter, Jeff leaning next to her, both with a plate of cake in their hands.

“Admit it, you would have been a little disappointed if I had completely ignored your birthday.”

He tilts his head from side to side. “Only because this is really good cake. And don’t take this to mean that you should ignore everything I say.”

“Noted. Just most things.” She leans over and presses her lips to his cheek. “Happy Birthday.” And her breath warm against his skin, he doesn’t really think about it as he turns his head, just slightly, his mouth catching the corner of hers before she completely moves away.

“Thanks,” he whispers.

Annie nods, looking down at the plate in her hand. She clears her throat, “Next year you’re getting a party.”

“Nope.”

“The whole shebang. Party hats. Streamers. Gift bags.”

Jeff groans and takes another bite of his cake. “I guarantee you I’ll hate it.”

“You’d say that, yeah.”

“Just promise, no clowns.”

“Deal.”


	5. Chapter 5

“Jeff! We’re going to be late!”

Annie stands in the open doorway, a neatly packed canvas bag over one shoulder and a saran-wrapped platter of flag-shaped sugar cookies in her hands. She taps her foot impatiently, trying to shrug the strap of the bag up higher as it starts to slip down her arm.

“Jeff!”

“Annie.” He saunters out of the bathroom, unhurried. “It’s an all-day barbeque. We’re not going to miss anything.”

The nonchalance in his voice makes her grumble in frustration. “I told Shirley we’d be there by 1:00 and we have to pick up Abed and Britta on the way and-”

“Aaaaaand, as Americans it’s our right to be five minutes late for a Fourth of July pool party and not be executed for it.”

“I don’t think our forefathers fought for independence so that you could spend forty-five minutes applying self tanner, Jeff."

“Are you sure about that? Because I seem to recall reading about a little something called the ‘pursuit of happiness’ in the… What has that document called again?” Jeff snaps his fingers a couple of times and pretends to think. "Oh yeah, the Declaration of Independance."

Annie rolls her eyes, "Yeah, I'm sure they had your vanity in mind when they were protesting over-taxation."

Jeff throws a towel over his shoulder and grabs his keys off the counter. "This is a little like the pot calling the kettle black though, isn't it, Ms. 'I-once-overdrew-my-bank-account-buying-hair products'?”

Annie gasps, “It was an emergency. I had really bad split ends. And I told you that in confidence.”

“Yeah, you should probably rethink telling me these things,” he leans close and whispers with a smirk as he passes her on the way out the door. Her hands are full so she aims a kick at his shin with her flip-flop adorned foot, but he barely notices.

“Wait." Annie looks back toward the kitchen, "Where’s your contribution to the potluck?

He waves vaguely at the platter in her hands. “We’re bringing cookies.”

“We? You didn’t help even help! You just kept trying to steal bites of cookie dough when you thought I wasn’t looking.”

“I let you make them in my kitchen. The ‘we’ is implied. Besides, you really think Shirley expects me to contribute?” He gestures to himself. “C’mon.”

“Wow. It must be nice to be able to skate by on everyone’s low expectations,” she mutters as she pushes away from the door so Jeff can lock it.

He grins. “Annie, I bring something to the party that can’t be measured by fruit platters and bags of ice.”

“Ew.”

“You scoff, but you can't deny the truth.”

Annie sighs over-dramatically. “I can’t argue with you when you’re like this.”

“Like what?” Jeff holds the door to the stairwell open for her and she slides past, maneuvering down the steps carefully.

“All ‘I’m Jeff Winger and I’m a cocky ass who can lawyer my way out of everything by making it seem like I don’t care about anything.’” She pauses and looks back at him with a raised eyebrow as if challenging him to say she’s wrong.

Jeff laughs in a genuinely affectionate way that makes her lips twitch upward. “Did you just say ass?”

“That’s what you got out of what I just said?!”

He shrugs. “Cursing shouldn’t be so adorable.”

She's still walking ahead of him so he can't see her face but she splutters a little and he imagines the pink flush spreading up her cheeks. “See! And then you do that!”

Jeff laughs again but doesn’t ask her to elaborate as they exit into the parking lot and both blink into the brightness of the mid-day sun. It's hot, almost too hot, and everything on the horizon seems to shimmer in waves.

"Ugh. Can't we stay inside today?"

"No. Don't whine. Here." Annie motions for him to take the platter of cookies out of her hands and then starts rooting through her bag for something.

Jeff eyes her critically.“What the hell did you pack?”

“Essentials.

“Essentials,” he parrots back at her, shifting the platter to one hand and hooking a finger around one of the canvas straps to tug her back toward him.“You know we’re only going to be gone for a few hours, right?" He peers inside, "A change of clothes, a book…is that a first aid kit?”

“It’s a pool party. People can get hurt at pool parties.”

“Quick question: were you ever actually in the Girl Scouts? Or are you just that anal retentive?”

“Oh shut up.” Annie finally pulls a pair of sunglasses from the bottom of the bag and slips them on. She takes the cookies back from him and waits while he opens the passenger side door of the Lexus.

“Just remind me to never go on an actual trip with you.”

Annie laughs as she slides into the car, “Oh please, we’d need an entire suitcase just for your-”

Jeff shuts the door, cutting off her retort. But he can’t help but grin to himself, flipping his keys around his finger, as he walks around to the driver’s side.

 

~*~*~

 

He honks again, drumming his thumbs in annoyance on the steering wheel. “You texted her that we were here?”

“Yeah.” Annie gives him a sideways smirk. “What’s wrong? I thought we weren’t in a hurry.”

Jeff raises an eyebrow. “When did you become such a smartass?”

“Too much time hanging out with you, I guess.” She starts unbuckling her seatbelt, “I’ll go get her.”

“There she is.” From the backseat, Abed points up the stairs of Britta’s courtyard apartment complex where she is running towards them and simultaneously trying to shove a towel into her bag. She drops something, stops to pick it up and then somehow manages to almost topple down the remaining steps, catching herself on the railing at the last second. Annie, Jeff and Abed all watch her through the windshield, wincing.

When she finally yanks open the back passenger door and slides in, Britta is flushed and out of breath. “Sorry. Sorry. One of my cats threw up and-”

“Ew.”

“Do not finish that story.”

“Is that why you look more frazzled than normal?”

“Abed!” Annie and Britta reprimand him in unison.

“What?” He meets Jeff’s eyes in the review mirror and shrugs. “I wasn’t being bitchy. It was just a question.”

Jeff turns in his seat, regarding Britta’s tousled hair and flushed cheeks with narrowed eyes. “Britta have you been-”

“I’m fine!” Britta yelps as she interrupts him mid-question. “I’m just running late. And the cat. And stuff…” She trails off and claps her hands together once. “Alright! Let’s go!”

Abed cocks his head to the side as he watches her.

“Britta has a secret,” Jeff says with barely contained glee.

“What? No.” She shakes her head, “What are you talking about?”

“I’ve been trained to spot a liar, Britta. And you have the worst poker face I’ve ever seen.”

“Ugh. You were a lawyer. Not an Republican Guard interrogator.”

“Is this about your secret…” Annie lowers her voice to a hush. “Boyfriend?”

Britta pales and then laughs a little manically. “Boyfriend? Me? No.” She looks out the window and gasps. “Oh my god! Is that Graham Norton?!”

Everyone continues staring at her.

“The comedian? BBC America?” Her eyes dart around to each of her friends who remain silent until she throws her hands up in the air and slumps back in her seat. “You guys do know that there’s an entire world outside North America, right? Are we so self-consumed that--”

Abed and Annie groan but Jeff just continues to grin knowingly. “Hey, Abed, why doesn’t Britta want us to know about her secret boyfriend?”

Britta gapes at him.

“Well,” Abed holds up a finger as if he’s about to starting listing off reasons but Britta grabs his hand and pulls him close.

“If you continue on with that sentence I swear I’ll go to your apartment and destroy every Inspector Spacetime poster you own. Including the one signed by Travis Richey.”

Abed’s eyes widen in fear as she stares him down. “Britta doesn’t have a secret boyfriend,” he intones monotonously. Annie opens her mouth but Jeff gives her an almost imperceptible shake of the head and she drops back into her seat with a sigh.

“Okay, Britta. Whatever you say.” Jeff smiles indulgently but there’s an air of this isn’t over to his words. Britta glares at him and releases Abed’s hand, patting it in apology.

“Let’s just go. We’re already late.” Annie gestures toward the clock on the radio and Jeff throws the car into reverse.

In the backseat Britta is still reassuring Abed that she won’t touch any of his Inspector Spacetime memorabilia but she interrupts herself as Jeff pulls out of the parking lot. “Oh. And we need to stop at the store first. Shirley asked me to bring a salad.” 

“What? Why? This wasn’t something you could have done on your own time?”

“I was busy.”

“With her secret boyfriend,” Annie mutters under her breath so that only Jeff hears her properly. He widens his eyes at her and nods slowly.

 

~*~*~

 

“If you’re not back in five minutes, we’re leaving without you.”

“Ass,” Britta grumbles, slamming the door behind her and sticking her tongue out at Jeff through the window for good measure. He grins and raises his arm, tapping his wrist to indicate that she should hurry.

In the car, they’re all quiet for a second until Annie breathes out a giddy, “Oh my god, she must really like this guy.”

“Please,” Jeff scoffs, “She’s probably just too embarrassed to tell us who it is. Knowing Britta she’s found herself some poor scmhuck with a facial deformity or a debilitating hunchback.”

“Oh please. You really think Britta’s dating a hunchback? Besides, she told us about One-Eyed Jason didn’t she?”

“Annie’s right. Britta’s usually pretty open about the guys she dates. Sometimes too open.” Abed’s eyes dart over to Jeff’s and he raises his eyebrow meaningfully. Jeff looks confused but Abed continues. “The most likely possibility is that it’s someone we know but wouldn’t approve of… But who?”

They all fall silent, pondering the possibilities. Annie thinks briefly of Troy, ignoring the familiar sweep of jealousy, but quickly discounts the idea –it has to at least be someone in town for the summer.

Her lips pursed in thought, she reaches for the radio, but Jeff bats her hand away without even looking at her. “What did I tell you?”

“It’s a commercial.”

“Well, I’m not in the mood to listen to the Jonas Brothers.”

“I don’t listen to the Jonas Brothers, Jeff.”

“Or Katy Petty. Or Lady Gaga. Or Taylor Swift. Or any other Top-40-cookie-cutter recycled crap that-”

“Fine!” Annie scowls as she pulls his ipod out of the glove compartment and hooks it up. “And Taylor Swift is really talented, okay? She writes her own songs.”

“Yeah. Like song writing ability indicates talent. If that were true, that tiny-nippled idiot you dated wouldn’t have to fall back on a sport created by stoners in the 90’s.”

Annie rolls her eyes but doesn’t reply or look up as she scrolls through his music selection. Jeff leans over the center console, into her personal space so he can look at the screen. “Here, pick-” But she pushes back against him with her shoulder.

“I want to choose.” And then she gasps and looks up at him, her eyes wide and bright. “Hey, Abed, guess what?” Her gaze doesn’t leave Jeff’s and his smile falters a little. “It turns out that someone in this car is a closet BNL fan.” She taps the ipod screen and the open strains of “If I Had A Million Dollars” start playing over the speakers.

“Nice,” Abed says from the backseat.

Jeff scowls. “Okay, I like one song. Who cares?”

“Admit it!” Annie’s practically bouncing in her seat. “BNL is awesome.”

“Stop. Calling them. BNL.” Jeff lunges for the ipod but Annie yelps and holds it to her chest, curling back into the corner of her seat.

“Just say it, Jeff.”

“Not happening. Give it.” He’s halfway out of his seat, leaning over her as they struggle and Annie starts to sing along, the lyrics broken up by her giggles and sounding more and more high pitched and shouty as Jeff gives up and starts tickling her, his fingers dancing up the sides of her torso.

“Stopstopstop.” Annie practically slides all the way out of her seat and onto the floor trying to get away from him and she relinquishes the ipod with an out-of-breath laugh. “Here!”

“Milady.” Jeff drops back into his seat and quickly skips to the next song.

Annie sits up, straightening the strap of her tank-top that’s slipped down one shoulder as Dave Matthew’s “Funny the Way It Is” starts playing. “Oh, I like this one.” She hums along softly and stretches her legs out, wiggling her toes in her flip-flops and scrutinizing the intricate stripes of red, white and blue she’d painted her nails the night before.

“I saw them in concert a few years ago when they were in Denver,” Jeff offers, not looking up as he continues scrolling through the ipod, presumably to make sure that there’s nothing else embarrassing to be found in his music selection. “They were pretty awesome. One of my clients gave me front row tickets.”

Annie looks a little wistful. “I’ve never really been to a concert before. Well…” her voice trails off and she smiles sheepishly, “Vaughn did take me to see this reggae band one time.”

“No, Annie. That doesn’t… no. Okay, clearly we’re going to have to-”

But Britta returns then with a grocery bag in hand, cutting him off. “Alright, are we ready to pool party it up?”

“What did you buy?” Abed asks, pointing at the bag.

“One of those pre-packaged salad kits.”

Annie bites her lip, imagining Shirley’s reaction and Jeff must have the same thought because he snorts and turns around in his seat. “You’re bringing a bag of salad to a party?”

“Shut up, Martha Stewart. What did you bring?”

“Nothing,” Annie interjects with a smirk.

“Ha! Party foul on you, Winger.”

“Traitor,” Jeff mutters at Annie.

 

~*~*~

 

It’s already 1:30 by the time they walk through the gate into Shirley’s sister’s backyard where there’s already a smattering of family and friends splashing around in the pool and milling around a picnic table laden with chips and plastic cups of soda.

Baby Ben spots them from his spot on a blanket in the grass surrounded by toys. “Ta! Ta!” he cries in delight and tries to stand on still-unsure legs. He takes a couple of wobbly steps toward them but doesn’t get very far before he falls forward, catching himself on his hands and looking for a moment, his face puckered and red, likes he’s about to cry. It only takes a second though before he’s off again, crawling this time through the grass, albeit a little hindered by the orange floaties around his upper arms. As Andre walks by, he swoops him up, arms and legs still flailing, and plops him into Britta’s arms.

“Ta!” Ben yells happily, throwing his chubby arms around her neck and burying his face in her curls.

“He’s been asking about you since this morning. Hey guys.”

They all offer their hellos as Britta smiles warily at the child in her arms. Despite the fact that she always seems a little terrified of him, he never ceases to be overjoyed at her presence, enthusiastically shouting her name (or rather, a slightly mangled version of her name) and demanding constant love and attention until it’s time to either eat or go to sleep.

Annie ‘awws’ and leans over to kiss him on the head, “Hi Ben.” But despite her gentle smile, his face scrunches up, almost suspiciously, and he holds up his hand to push her away.

“Nono.”

Jeff laughs as Annie’s shoulders droop, her lips puckering out in a pout of rejection. Britta seems a little smug about it all as she tightens her hold on the kid and nods in pretend understanding at the nonsensical gibberish that he chatters in her ear.

“He hates me,” Annie says quietly enough that only Jeff can hear.

“He’s a year old. I’m pretty sure he hasn’t tapped into that emotional well yet.”

“But he likes Britta better.”

“Wow. You really do have a pathological need to be everyone’s favorite don’t you?” he teases her, but his hand hovers over her low back as he leans closer. “Maybe he just has a thing for blonde anarchists.”

Annie fights back a smile. “Oh Shirley will love that.”

As if on cue, the woman in question emerges from the house, muttering darkly something about not needing to be told how to properly assemble a potato salad. At the sight of her friends though, she beams and claps her hands together.

“Oh! You came!” She straightens her “He is Risen” apron and bustles over, hugging Jeff and cooing over Annie’s cookies and side-eyeing the falafel that Abed brought from his dad’s restaurant. At Britta’s proffered grocery bag she raises an eyebrow and somehow manages a tight, “Oh, that’s… nice.”

Britta visibly deflates but Ben chooses that moment to plant a kiss on her cheek and then giggle in delight about it and she can’t help but melt and kiss his cheek in return.

 

~*~*~

 

Jeff lounges at the side of the pool in board shorts, his sunglasses firmly in place to block out the glare of the sun as he naps. The noise of the party bubbles around him – Shirley and her sister arguing by the barbeque as all the kids chase each other around the yard with nerf guns, Abed talking Andre’s ear off about his latest television obsession, the radio in the kitchen playing out a steady stream of patriotic hits. In the midst of it he hears Annie’s lilting giggle and he instinctively turns his head to where he knows she is hanging off the edge of the pool chatting with Britta.

Her hair is tied up in a knot to keep it out of the water, leaving her neck bare, the ties to her bikini trailing down her back. Earlier she had been nagging him about the importance of sunscreen and that if he was going to insist on lying around without a shirt on he better be using a higher SPF, but any clever retort he’d been able to come up with had died on his tongue as she slipped her tank top off over her head and revealed a red and white striped bikini speckled with little blue stars. She’d looked almost shy about it too and somehow that made it all the more appealing – enough so that he’d had to walk away, mumbling some excuse for having to go talk to Shirley on the other side of the yard.

Now she has her chin propped up on her folded arms, listening to Britta - who wearing a simple black one piece and sitting with her legs dangling into the water - rant about something presumably ridiculous. Jeff rolls his eyes and stares back up at the sky, shifting into a more comfortable position.

But something soft hits him on the side of his head and there’s a burst of raucous laughter from nearby. Jeff slides his sunglasses down and eyes Elijah who is standing about five yards away with a nerf gun in his hands and a sly look on his face.

“What are you-?” And then something hits the other side of Jeff’s face and suddenly he’s being pelted with a barrage of nerf darts from all sides.

“Hey!” He holds up his hands to protect himself and struggles out of the chair.

“HAHA! Sucker!” One of the kids yells and Jeff is momentarily reminded of a few humiliating elementary school traumas before he manages to reach Elijah and easily pull the gun from his hands.

“You boys! Leave. Him. Alone!” Shirley’s mom voice echoes through the yard.

Jeff smirks, “Ooooh, someone’s in trouble.”

Elijah makes a face. “Oooooh, someone’s got a receding hairline.” He doubles over in laughter, the other kids quickly joining in as the smile fades off Jeff’s face. Receding hairline? It’s almost involuntary when he reaches up and touches his forehead with something akin to horror. But then he catches Shirley’s eyes – which are sparking with some mix of mischievousness and annoyance - as she nods her head ever so slightly in the direction of the pool. And with that act of permission Jeff lunges forward, grabs Elijah around the waist and tosses him sideways into the pool, the resulting splash sending a spray of water directly into Britta and Annie.

“Hey!” the girls yell in unison as Elijah comes up spluttering. He coughs a couple times and then raises a fist in the air.

“That was AWESOME!”

The other kids who had fallen momentarily silent in surprise at Jeff’s retaliation all cheer and then suddenly he is surrounded by a clamoring of tiny but determined voices as they all beg to go next.

“Uh.” He holds his arms up, away from their grabby hands because he doesn’t really know what to do with kids and he hadn’t really signed up to be their activities director today but he catches a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of Britta as she wipes a few stray droplets of water off her arms and he can’t really help himself. “Okay, who’s first?”

“Me! Me! Me!”

He picks up one of the little girls, Andre’s five-year old niece Lola, and she’s already shrieking with laughter as he throws her in and she freefalls through the air, her arms held high above her head.

Annie and Britta both get a face full of water this time. Annie yelps and tries to jump out of the way, pushing back from the wall of the pool, while Britta yells, “Jeff Winger, I swear I’m going to come over there and f-“

“Now, I know you weren’t about to use any inappropriate language around children, were you Brit-ta?” Shirley trills from behind her. Britta’s mouth snaps shut, her jaw tight.

“Whatever.” She slides into the pool next to Annie, still sending nasty looks in Jeff’s direction and they resign themselves to getting drenched as Jeff continues throwing each kid into the pool.

“Well, good for him. He finally found someone his own maturity level to play with.”

Annie shrugs, watching as Elijah runs up to Jeff for another turn, holding his hand up for a fist bump that Jeff returns reluctantly but with a smile. “I don’t know. It’s kind of cute.” She doesn’t notice the way Britta narrows her eyes and follows her gaze.

“Oh, Annie.”

“What?” She frowns at the look on Britta’s face and shakes her head. “I mean the kids. The kids are cute…” Annie sinks down into the water a bit so that she’s submerged to her chin, kicking her legs out in front of her and trying to look casual. “What do you have against Jeff anyway?”

“Uh. He’s Jeff. He’s a douche.”

“But if I want to think,” she waves her hand in Jeff’s direction, “that’s cute, then who cares?”

“Because you can’t think something’s cute without falling in love with it.”

“That’s not true.”

Britta looks doubtful. “I’m just looking out for you. You don’t want to get sucked into that again. Trust me.” She widens her eyes. “Jeff is never going to be ready for a real relationship and you deserve better than pining around for a guy whose highest priority in life is looking good and being cool.”

Annie’s skin prickles in a sudden fit of defensiveness. She thinks about coming home to find Jeff in the kitchen making dinner with a hand towel slung over his shoulder, the way he squints his eyes and kind of blinks a lot when he gets sleepy, the fact that he always, always steals the last chunk of Oreo cookie out of the ice cream but then kind of shrugs apologetically and smiles and promises to buy more. And she wants to tell Britta these things, wants to make her understand. Instead –

“Speaking of relationships.”

“Annie.”

“Please. I won’t tell anyone. It’s someone we know, right? Is it swarthy Michael Cera? Asian Will Farrel?” Annie’s eyes widen as she looks around, “Chang?”

“Ew! Even I have standards.”

Annie giggles, forgetting about her earlier irritation. “Is it Neil? He’s still talking about that time you flashed him.”

“No. And I heard he and Vicki got back together.”

“Ugh. I’m so tired of the drama between those two.”

“Right?”

There’s a loud chorus of shouts behind them as all the kids have suddenly ganged up on Jeff and are pushing him towards the edge of the pool. He’s struggling against them but he’s also kind of laughing as Jordan and Elijah each yank on one of his arms and they all go toppling into the pool.

Annie and Britta are both still laughing when Jeff swims over to them, thoroughly soaked, his hair lying flat against his head.

“Awww, all that extra time spent getting ready gone to waste. John Adams would be so disappointed.” Annie lets out an exaggerated sigh.

“I’m pretty sure he’s rolling over in his grave right now.”

“So much for independence.”

Jeff grins down at her. “We should probably just go ahead and surrender ourselves back to the British.”

“It would probably be for the best.”

Britta stares at them, a little dumbfounded. “What the fuck are you guys talking about?”

“Ooooh. You said a swear,” a tiny voice says from behind her. Britta’s face goes slack as she turns to find a couple little girls sitting on the steps to the pool and shaking their heads at her in disapproval. And of course, Shirley is right behind them, standing with her hands on her hips and shaking her head slowly.

“Britta.”

“Yeah. Yeah.”

 

~*~*~

 

When the sun starts to sink low in the sky, throwing elongated shadows over the yard, the entire party sets out to walk the few blocks to the local park where they’ll be able to see the fireworks display being shot off at City College – an elaborate show set to music that’s broadcast over the local radio station. Greendale too has a fireworks display, but it’s not much more than a few rockets and the obligatory burn injury.

“Dean Pelton can never know about this,” Annie says seriously as she helps Shirley spread a few blankets over the grass.

“Agreed.” Everyone else nods, and a few minutes later when they see Dean Spreck walk by they all duck down and hide.

Jeff settles at the edge of one of the blankets and Shirley almost immediately plops Ben down next to him and then hustles off after the other boys as they run toward the playground.

“Uh.” Jeff eyes Ben apprehensively. “I hope she doesn’t expect me to baby sit.”

Britta rolls her eyes and drops down at the other end of the blanket, sitting Indian style. “Like anyone would trust you with a child.”

“She trusts you with him, doesn’t she?”

“Yeah right!” Britta snorts. “The last time I babysat she was gone for an hour and in that time six different people from her church showed up at the door. Including her pastor.” She gets a faraway look in her eyes. “He was actually pretty cute.”

“Is that who you’re dating?!” Annie asks, sounding disturbed, as she and Abed join her on the ground.

“NO!” But then they’re all laughing uproariously at the visual of Shirley finding out that Britta had hooked up with her pastor, each imitating the look of horror that would undoubtedly be on her face. Ben yells along with them, clapping his hands in amusement. As their giggles subside, Abed pulls out a deck of cards and soon he and Britta and Annie are caught up in a card game that seems to involve a lot of yelling and slapping at the ground and each other.

Jeff watches them, declining their offers to join in, all the while Ben sits next to him chewing happily on the arm of a stuffed Elmo doll as a steady stream of kool aid tinted drool drips down his chin. Eventually he ends up leaning into Jeff’s arm, his sticky cheek pressed against the sleeve of his sweatshirt.

It’s more than a little bit disgusting, but there’s something in the way the kid seems to instinctively trust him enough to snuggle up to him like this that makes Jeff heart constrict in his chest.

“Sup, kid?” he asks with a smile.

Ben pulls the doll out of his mouth and holds it up, “EMO!”

“Sesame Street.” Jeff nods. “Cool.”

“EMO!”

“Yeeeeeaaah. I always preferred Big Bird.”

Ben blinks at him, then waves the doll in his face again and says with an even louder shriek, “EMO!”

“Geez. Okay, okay. I’m sorry. Elmo’s awesome. You don’t have to yell about it.”

All seems to be forgiven as Ben leans back into him and closes his eyes with a yawn, shoving the poor, soggy Elmo back into his mouth.

 

~*~*~

 

The temperature cools to a crisp chill as the sky turns dark and by the time the first firework bursts into brilliant color over their heads, they are all huddled close and draped around each other on the blanket to keep warm. Britta and Annie lie curled together, each with an arm through the sleeve of Abed’s hoodie, giggling as he lies next to them and “narrates” the fireworks as if he is Inspector Spacetime and the fireworks are destroyed Blorgon spaceships. Jeff sits on Abed’s other side, his legs stretched out in front of him and his neck craned up to the sky. Beside him, Shirley is nestled under Andre’s arm but she keeps her hand curled around the crook of Jeff’s elbow, squeezing occasionally as she coo’s with delight at each burst of light crackling and fizzling in the night sky.

 

~*~*~

 

They’re laughing as Jeff keys into the darkened apartment.

“No! They’re convinced that there’s an alternate universe where we each have an evil version of ourselves.”

“So there’s an evil study group running around somewhere?” Jeff drops his keys and towel on the counter and turns to her with his arms folded over his chest.

“Yes. And eventually they’re going to try and cross over into our universe to take over our lives.”

He leans toward her as she sets her bag on the couch and kicks off her flip-flops. “Here’s a question. How do you know I haven’t already been taken over by Evil Jeff?”

Annie bites back a smile. “Hmm. I don’t know. I’ve always pictured Evil Jeff with a handlebar mustache.”

“You’ve been watching too many James Bond movies with Abed.”

“I think he’s bald, too.”

Jeff looks dismayed. “Annie, I’m pretty sure every version of me, even the evil one, has  
awesome hair.”

She shrugs and heads toward the bathroom with a backwards glance over her shoulder. “Then I guess there’s no way of knowing who the real Jeff is.” And she doesn’t mean for her voice to come out so breathlessly flirty, but it does and she blushes a little and turns away. “Do you need the bathroom, right now?” she calls back to him.

After a pause he tells her no and she shuts the door, breathing a sigh of relief and quickly shaking off the unsettled feeling that sweeps over her. She peels off her shirt and presses a finger to the warm, pink skin of her shoulder. Even diligent sunscreen application hasn’t prevented a sunburn after being outside all day and she hisses in discomfort and goes about searching for a bottle of aloe from her box of toiletries under the sink.

She applies a thick slather of the cool gel to her arms and neck but she can’t quite reach the middle of her back where the skin is red around the ties to her bikini. It takes a full two minutes though before she gets up the courage to crack open the door and call for Jeff.

He pokes his head around the corner of his bedroom with a raised eyebrow.

“Um. Do you think you can help me?” She holds the bottle of aloe out to him. “I can’t reach.”

Jeff stares at her hand, faltering. “Oh. Uh. Sure.” He follows her back into the bathroom, standing behind her as she sweeps her hair over one shoulder, holding it in a makeshift ponytail and tilting her head down slightly to look at the counter.

“And you were yelling at me about sun damage?”

Annie laughs quietly. “I burn easily. And I wasn’t yelling at you.”

When he touches her at first, it's almost too rough, like he wants to do this as fast as possible, and she squeaks in pain and arches away.

“Sorry,” he murmurs as he slides his hand, softer now, along her shoulder and lower, smoothing aloe into the warm, sensitive skin. She relaxes into his touch, into the almost husky quality to his voice, and closes her eyes. His hands continue moving along her back, past the ties to her bikini, rubbing in large circles. Annie exhales deeply, not sure if she's imagining his movements slowing, his touch becoming lighter, his thumb tracing down along the edge of her spine to just above the waistband of her shorts where she's not even all that sunburned.

When he stops moving altogether, his hands at her hips, Annie opens her eyes slowly, meeting his in the mirror and she has to hold back a gasp. His eyes are dilated and dark and intent. She shivers and his fingers tighten, slipping down just slightly to press against her hipbones and suddenly he’s close enough behind her that she can feel the cotton of his tee-shirt against her back.

They’re just watching each other in the mirror and it would be so easy to reach her arm up, curl it around his neck, and bring him down for a kiss, and she knows, without a doubt, that he wouldn’t push her away.

But she doesn’t.

Instead, she looks down and breaks eye contact. Jeff seems to come back to himself immediately and his hands leave her hips as he backs away. “I think you’re good? You’re good. Yeah,” his voice cracking a little as he disappears.

Well. That’s not good.


	6. Chapter 6

The next day Annie’s at work doing some filing in the back room. Or rather, she’s trying to. She keeps getting distracted, eyes glazing over as she thinks about the night before, the memories getting warmer and slower and ever more dream-like the longer she thinks about it and somehow before she realizes it she’s managed to make a complete mess of all the M’s.

 

She’s in the middle of fixing it when her co-worker, Janet, pops in, a curious expression on her face. “Why didn’t you didn’t tell me your roommate was so hot?”

 

Annie straightens, a little startled and feeling like she’s been caught at something. “What?”

 

“Jeff? He’s out front.”

 

“What?” She repeats, clutching the file in her hands to her chest. There’s an oddly warm sensation under her skin that makes her a little lightheaded and she’s sure she’s blushing now.

 

Janet laughs, “He says he’s your roommate at least. But he’s not what I expected.”

 

This makes Annie pause with a frown. “What were you expecting?”

 

“I don’t know. He’s a thirty-something-year-old that goes to community college and sits around playing video games and watching TV in his spare time. I guess I was expecting Seth Rogen.” Janet lowers her voice further. “How do you keep your hands off him?”

 

Annie flushes. “We’re just friends. It’s not like that.” As she heads toward the front office though she instinctively combs a hand through her hair, tucking it behind her ears and brushing down some barely-there wrinkles in her skirt. Janet follows with a smirk.

 

“Uh-huh.”

 

In the waiting room Jeff’s leaning his forearms against the counter, fiddling with the pen that is attached with a piece of twine to the sign-in sheet. He looks up when Annie walks out and meets her tentative smile with one of his own. She tries to read the expression in his eyes, knowing immediately that he is doing that thing where he tries to express his feelings without ever actually acknowledging them.

 

It’s obnoxious and yet comforting and the familiarity of him is such a relief that she lets her smile warm and bloom across her face. The corners of his mouth twitch and he coughs and looks away. Annie fights the urge to roll her eyes.

 

“So what’s up?”

 

“I was in the building delivering some contracts to a client. You free for lunch?”

 

“Um.” Annie looks up at the clock. She still has another half hour before her break. “I actually--”

 

“She is!” Janet supplies and makes a little shooing motion when Annie raises an eyebrow. “Go have fun.”

 

Jeff’s eyes dart between them and he smiles charmingly. “I’ll have her back in an hour.”

 

They walk to the deli down the street where Jeff orders a salad (he’s making up for all the carbs he ate at the barbeque) and Annie orders extra chips with her sandwich because she knows he’ll just end up stealing half of hers anyway (he does and she still gasps and slaps his hand away with a protest every time).

 

It’s even hotter out than the day before so they sit inside at a tiny corner table where their knees keep bumping until Jeff turns sideways and crosses his ankle over his knee. As they eat he tells her about a disturbing text he had received from Dean Pelton in the middle of the night and Annie laughs so hard she chokes on her lemonade and they get dirty looks from the patrons at the surrounding tables.

 

She’s halfway through her sandwich when she remembers Janet’s words. “My co-worker thought you were fat,” she says slowly, processing it out loud.

 

Jeff drops his fork and gapes at her. “WHAT?”

 

“Oh eat your salad.” Annie rolls her eyes. “I mean that she thought you would be from the way I talked about you.” 

 

The horrified look on Jeff’s face doesn’t falter. “What?” he sputters indignantly. “How are you describing me to people?!”

 

“I don’t know,” she shrugs and offers him a chip that he glowers at before taking and chewing slowly in agitation. Annie can’t help but giggle. “I shouldn’t have told you.”

 

“Probably not. But from now on Annie, when you’re talking about me, start with the abs. Always start with the abs. To avoid any confusion.”

 

“You’re ridiculous.”

 

~*~*~

 

On Monday night Annie comes home later than normal to find Jeff already parked in front of the television, stretched out long on the couch with a glass of scotch in one hand. He’s taken off his tie and rolled up the sleeves of his button-down, feeling too lazy to change completely. There’s an episode of How I Met Your Mother playing quietly on screen when Annie walks in the door and he looks up in greeting, noting her red-rimmed eyes and the slight droop in her shoulders

 

“Good day?”

 

She sighs heavily, dropping her purse and keys in messy heap on the ground, and moves around to sit on the couch. Jeff swings his legs to the floor and sits up to give her room.

 

“I got yelled at today by one of the doctors. In front of a lot of people. It was horrible.” Her head drops back against the couch and she kicks her shoes off one by one so that they fling across the room and land near the television. “And it was my fault. I deserved it.”

 

Jeff frowns, “Did you get fired?”

 

“No.”

 

“Were you able to fix whatever it was you did wrong?”

 

“Yeah. But.”

 

He shrugs and takes a small sip of scotch. “Then it’ll be better tomorrow.” Annie presses her lips into a thin line and Jeff can tell she’s trying not to cry. “But hey, I know people. Say the word and we can slap this doctor with a harassment lawsuit so hard the word ‘douchebag’ will be permanently imprinted across his face.”

 

Annie makes a noise that is somewhere between a laugh and a sob, “I don’t think it’ll come to that.” She tucks her legs up onto the couch and leans her head into his arm. “But thanks.” Jeff shifts against her slightly and bumps her knee with the glass in his hand.

 

“I think you need this more than I do tonight.”

 

She scrunches up her nose but accepts it without protest and as she takes a tiny sip she doesn’t grimace but a shiver runs up her spine and she feels it burn down her throat. She eyes the amber liquid and takes another sip, relaxing into him more.

 

Jeff watches her with a half smile, then grabs the remote control from the armrest and starts flipping through channels.

 

“Ooh, Jeopardy.” Annie nudges him and he flips back to the previous channel where Alex is just finishing up introducing all the categories.

 

“Annie,” he says warningly because every time they’ve watched together in the past it’s become an intense competition to see who can shout out the answer first until one of them – usually the loser – walks away in a huff.

 

“I’ll be good.” She gazes up at him though her eyelashes and pouts out her lips. “I’ve had a bad day.”

 

Jeff raises an eyebrow but doesn’t argue further. Annie grins and pushes away from him, settling into the other side of the couch with her head propped up on a pillow, her feet pressed against his thigh. She keeps the glass clutched in her hand, tilting small sips into her mouth every now and again and she’s actually fairly subdued, letting him have most of the answers.

 

Whenever she does get one right though she pokes her toes against him and makes a little humming noise of victory. Jeff mostly ignores it but eventually he ends up grabbing her foot and tugging it into his lap to keep her from poking him again. He keeps his fingers around her ankle, tapping his thumb in distraction. Annie doesn’t protest.

 

It’s during the usually awkward part of Jeopardy when the contestants introduce themselves that Jeff slides his thumb under her foot, against the arch, with a little bit of pressure and Annie lets out a tiny sigh. He glances at her from the corner of his eye and she’s watching the television but she wiggles her foot again just slightly, a smile on her face. He snorts but does it again.

 

At the next clue they manage to answer in unison, “Who is Atticus Finch?” and then automatically reach for a resounding no-look high-five.

 

“I love that book,” Annie says with a sigh.

 

“Me too,” Jeff murmurs. He doesn’t notice the way she looks away from the television and watches his face but when he gets the next answer right he yells, “HA!” because it’s in the “Science” category and she usually gets those before him.

 

“You cheat.”

 

“HOW?”

 

Annie grumbles something under her breath and takes another sip of scotch. Jeff presses his thumb even harder against her heel and she make a deep noise of approval in her throat and turns her head into the pillow, eyes fluttering shut. “Nevermind.”

 

He smiles and continues the ministrations of his fingers until the beginning of Wheel of Fortune when he realizes it’s been a while sine she’s said anything. Her eyes are closed, lashes fanned out over her cheeks as she breathes steadily in and out.

 

Carefully, Jeff slides out from under her and then bends to take the glass from her loosely curled hand, brushing the backs of his fingers against her forehead as he stands. Annie inhales deeply and shifts a little at his touch but doesn’t wake.

 

There are only a few drops of scotch left rolling around the bottom of the glass and Jeff tosses it back as he settles into the arm chair and stares at the television. He feels restless and antsy and he should just get his wallet and keys and go out. But somehow, he can’t bring himself to leave.

 

~*~*~

 

He walks into the break room for coffee the next day to find a group of admin assistants gathered around one of the tables eating lunch and laughing loudly.

 

“Ladies. Jason,” Jeff smarms in their direction. They all greet him with varying degrees of interest but he’s pretty sure Jason’s the only one that actually turns around for an eyeful.

 

As he pours his coffee he listens vaguely to the conversation behind him.

 

“… so Brad finally agreed to hire a contractor to convert the space above the garage into an apartment. We’re going to rent it out as soon as it’s finished.”

 

“Oh be careful with renters. My friend Leslie…”

 

Jeff leans back against the counter, coffee in one hand, his phone in the other as he scrolls through Twitter with his thumb, rolling his eyes at the latest essay length tweet rant from Kanye West.

 

“… do you know anyone Jeff?”

 

“Hmmm?” He barely looks up.

 

“Do you know anyone that’s looking for a room to rent?”

 

Later, when he’s obsessing over this moment, the thing that sticks out to him is that he actually stopped to think about it, running quickly through the mental catalogue of people that he knows.

 

“Nope.”

 

And it’s not until the word is out of his mouth that he realizes he does.

 

“Well if you think of anyone.”

 

His response gets caught on his tongue and he ends up just nodding to keep from looking like an idiot. “Yeah. Yeah sure.” He takes his coffee back to his desk, but the confused twisty feeling in his stomach stays with him all day.

 

~*~*~

 

Annie finds him leaning over the bathroom counter, face close to the mirror with a pair of tweezers in one hand. “Whatcha doing?” She asks with a giggle.

 

Jeff scowls and moves over to give her room at the sink. “Alan wants me in court with him tomorrow and the girl that normally does my eyebrows is out of town.” He eyes Annie darkly as she bows her head a little, shoulders trembling with laughter. “What?”

 

She shakes her head, trying to look solemn. “How are those two things even related?”

 

“Uh. Duh?” Jeff makes a circle around his face with his finger. “Why do you think they call it The Moneymaker?”

 

Annie contemplates this as she starts brushing her teeth. “Who is ‘they’ exactly?”

 

“Don’t question it, Annie. They don’t like to be questioned. It’s just one of those irrefutable things. Like the sky being blue.”

 

“Actually,” she says over a mouthful of toothpaste, before Jeff cuts her off.

 

“Don’t.” He leans forward again and scrutinizes his face in the mirror. “Do they look even?”

 

Annie spits and rinses her mouth out, dropping her toothbrush back into the cup by the sink. “Do you want me to help you?” Jeff tries unsuccessfully to pluck out a stray hair from between his eyebrows and then sighs and hands her the tweezers.

 

“Yes.”

 

He perches at the edge of the toilet seat and Annie stands in front of him, leaning forward and titling his chin up with her fingertips. Jeff’ watches her for a second but they’re too close and he starts to go cross-eyed. He looks down, eyes tracing over the faded lettering of the old Riverside High tee shirt she wears to bed, realizes he’s basically staring at her chest and then shuts his eyes.

 

Annie goes to work, carefully plucking out little stray hairs here and there, keeping her thumb and forefinger at his chin to hold him in place. She moves a little closer, stepping in between his legs and Jeff’s suddenly not really sure what to do with his own hands.

 

When he rests them on his thighs his thumbs brush against the bare skin of her legs and his palms itch for wanting to slide them up to rest on her hips, maybe pull her into his lap. He feels her smooth her index finger along the arch of his eyebrow slowly, and his eyes blink open to peer into hers.

 

She’s so close that if he wanted to kiss her all he would have to do is tilt his mouth up to hers; he can smell the mint of her toothpaste as she breathes softly, breath fanning against his skin.

 

“There,” she whispers. “’They’ll’ love you.” She makes finger quotes with one hand and Jeff huffs out a laugh as she steps back and hands him the tweezers.

 

“Hey, I don’t think you’re taking this seriously. This is my face we’re talking about here. And the law. You’re going to laugh at the law, Annie?”

 

Annie shrugs and continues backing out of the bathroom. “I don’t know. I’ve seen Judge Judy. It seems pretty silly.”

 

“Judge Judy! Oh c’mon!” he yells at her as she disappears with a giggle and he gets up to check her work in the mirror. “That’s it. It’s ten o’clock. There’s a Law and Order rerun on somewhere. Go find it and we’ll let Jack McCoy show you just how silly it is.”

 

~*~*~

 

It’s been a long week so Annie readily jumps at the opportunity when some of her co-workers invite her out for Happy Hour on Friday. As the night wears on though and everyone proceeds to get thoroughly smashed Annie finds herself increasingly annoyed at the loud belligerence and spends most of her time glancing at her phone and considering calling one of her friends to come join her.

 

She ends up at the bar nursing a glass of ice water and chatting with the guy one seat over who at least appears sober enough to carry on a coherent conversation. When he offers to buy her a drink she asks for a scotch without really giving it a second thought and he gives her a strange look but calls the bartender over.

 

They lean toward each other as they talk and at one point he reaches out and brushes his hand against her low back and Annie’s feeling happy and warm at the attention. His name’s Paul – and he’s a nice guy - a sports writer for a local web based newspaper - and he smiles easily and laughs as Annie tells him stories about her brief tenure at the Greendale Gazette Journal Mirror and the general insanity of having a dean like Dean Pelton.

 

Paul looks a little disappointed when she gets up to leave - she’s barely touched her drink - but Annie gives him her number and then on impulse leans in and brushes a kiss against his cheek before walking out of the bar.

 

~*~*~

 

There’s a lightness in her chest when she gets home and she’s just curling into bed when Jeff walks in the door. He’s been out too and she doesn’t ask a lot of questions, just notes that he’s home earlier than normal for a Friday night. He yawns loudly and heads to bed without saying much and Annie turns the light off, settling into her pillow and playing out in her mind all the possible scenarios in which Paul actually calls.

 

Two hours later though she’s still awake.

 

In the almost two months that she’s lived there Annie’s slowly gotten used to the peace and quiet at night but earlier that week a young family had moved into the apartment above Jeff’s and now it was almost a nightly occurrence to be woken in the middle of the night to heavy footsteps and crying children.

 

She glares now at the ceiling as someone upstairs seems to be pacing, loudly, from room to room. A door slams, then opens and slams again. Annie yanks the pillow out from under her head and presses it down over her face with a groan.

 

A moment later she hears her phone vibrate from the coffee table and she turns her head and peers at it curiously because she can’t imagine who would be texting her this late. Unless its drunk Britta needing a ride home – but those calls have become increasingly sporadic now that she’s in an alleged relationship.

 

It’s not Britta. It’s Jeff.

 

“r they fucking moving furniture up there?”

 

Annie stifles a laugh and quickly types a reply.

 

“Can you please go yell at them?”

 

“no u go.”

 

She rolls her eyes and steals a glance at his closed door, snuggling back down into her pillow.

 

“You’d make me go up there? Jeeefff.”

 

“how do you manage to sound whiney even over text?”

 

“It’s a gift.”

 

“its annoying”

 

“You like it.”

 

“oh do I?

 

A bubbling of giddiness curls into Annie’s chest. She bends her legs up, curling in on herself and running her fingers along the keyboard of her phone as she tries to figure out what to say.

 

“Yes. I can see it in your face.”

 

“u cant see my face right now”

 

“I know you. I can imagine it.”

 

She stares at her phone but he doesn’t write back right away and the backlight eventually flickers off. Annie blinks, little phantom white lights behind her eyelids as she adjusts to the darkness. And then her phone vibrates in her hand again, illuminating her face with a bluish light. Her stomach flips.

 

“so ur imagining me in bed right now?”

 

Annie guffaws loudly in a fit of nervousness and then looks toward his door because there’s no doubt that he heard that. She imagines his soft slow smile, and yeah if she wasn’t before she’s definitely imagining him lying in bed with his phone in his hand, waiting for her to respond.

 

“Totally. I’d ask you what you’re wearing but I already know.”

 

“i knew it. the sweatpants turn you on”

 

“You got me.”

 

“but how do you know I don’t sleep naked?”

 

Annie gapes at the phone and sinks deeper into her blankets. Her heart flutters rapidly in her chest and her hands shake as she types out a response.

 

“I don’t.”

 

“but you’re imagining it now arent you?”

 

Annie lets out a long exhale.

 

“You know what? I think you’re the one imagining ME right now.”

 

There’s another long pause before he responds and she watches his door, half expecting it to open at any moment. And suddenly, in a panic, she can’t breathe. Her phone vibrates in her hand, startling her and she almost fumbles it off the couch.

 

“would that bother you?”

 

She practically whimpers and quickly yanks her blanket over her head for fear that he heard her. It’s late. And she’s tired. And this is leading somewhere dangerous. But she can’t keep herself from quickly typing those two letters and pressing send.

 

“No.”

 

“:)“

 

Annie feels a little like flailing herself around on the couch in a fit of… frustration? Annoyance? Arousal? She’s not quite sure because they’re all starting to feel like the same thing lately. Instead, she counts to ten backwards, straightens her blankets and stares up at the ceiling, her phone resting on her stomach. It’s only then that she realizes that the noises upstairs have stopped.

 

Her phone vibrates again and she feels it in her toes.

 

“night annie”

 

“Night Jeff.”

 

~*~*~

 

It’s late afternoon Saturday and they’ve left all the windows open all day, letting in the warm breeze so that the entire apartment feels fresh and airy. Annie’s washing dishes and humming along to the music playing through the ipod dock Jeff set up on the counter. She’s wearing her typical summer attire of shorts and a gauzy purple blouse but she’s barefoot and it’s something about that that makes Jeff pause and watch her for a moment.

 

When he woke up that morning he had immediately felt a jangle of nerves under his skin, grabbing for his phone because everything was fuzzy and uncertain under the haze of sleep and the weird half memories of scattered dreams. But that conversation with Annie had been there at the top of his inbox and he found himself wanting to throw his phone out the window because really? Texting? In the middle of the night? They could have been talking about phlebotomy and there still would have been some subtext of sexual innuendo there.

Annie had greeted him cheerfully though, if not a little too cheerfully, as she went about her normal Saturday morning routine of doing laundry and re-arranging her belongings in the corner of the living room and Jeff took it as an invitation to ignore any and all flirty text messages.

 

“You need help?”

 

She looks back at him and flicks him the towel that had been slung over her shoulder. “You can dry.”

 

He joins her at the sink and they work in silence, Annie washing and handing him the dripping wet dishes that he dries and puts away. Britta and Abed are coming over for movie night – it had been Jeff’s idea because somehow inviting Britta made it feel less like he was the third wheel to Abed and Annie. But Annie had agreed enthusiastically and gone about preparing dinner – lasagna, salad and garlic bread so that now the whole apartment is slowly filling with the tantalizing aroma of home cooked food.

 

“Do you think it’s weird we don’t have any other friends?” she asks suddenly.

 

Jeff narrows his eyes, “What are you talking about? Didn’t you just go out with a bunch of friends from work last night?”

 

Annie sighs. “Those were co-workers. I felt obligated to go. I’m talking about friends – people you call and talk to for hours on the phone or hang out at the mall with on a Saturday. I don’t have that.”

 

“That’s because you’re not a 14 year old girl. And you went to the mall last weekend with Britta.”

 

“I’m serious Jeff. It’s troubling. When was the last time you hung out with someone not in the study group?” Jeff opens his mouth but she cuts him off. “And Alan doesn’t count. He is not your friend.”

 

Jeff grins at that. “I don’t know.” He turns to put a sauté pan away in the cabinet below the microwave. “Sometimes I go play Dungeons and Dragons with Neil,” he mutters while his back is turned.

 

Annie’s eyes widen. “Seriously? That’s where you disappear to on Sunday afternoons?”

 

“Shut up. I’m just subbing in for Pierce while he’s out of town.”

 

“I knew you had a good time playing that day,” she giggles, shoulders shaking as she swirls her hand through the soapy water for any missed utensils. “You’re such a nerd.”

 

“Hey.” Jeff reaches over and swats a handful of bubbles at her. Annie yelps and leaps away from the sink but immediately moves back to retaliate, slapping a wave of water toward him so that it sloshes over the sink and splashes onto his jeans. His mouth drops open.

 

Annie gasps. “I’m sorry…No!” she shrieks as he grabs the pull-out spray faucet and goes to aim it in her direction. She backs away from the sink, holding her hands up defensively until she bumps into the center island and fumbles for something on the counter, fingers closing around the still closed can of soda she had pulled out of the fridge earlier.

 

They face off, Jeff holding the faucet, Annie slowly shaking up the can of soda.

 

“Annie.” He smirks and nods at the can. “Think about what you’re about to do. Think about who pays the rent here. Put the soda down.

 

She narrows her eyes at him and points at the sink. “I don’t trust you.”

 

“How long have we been friends? You don’t trust me yet?” He says, voice chock full of fake innocence.

 

“That’s why I don’t trust you.” Annie raises a pointed eyebrow.

 

“Fair enough. Okay.” He lets the faucet drop back into place, holding up one hand in surrender, reaching for the soda with the other.

 

Annie eyes him suspiciously but reluctantly relinquishes it and then steps back, realizing her mistake a second later as a reckless grin spreads across his face. He pops the top and a spray of soda erupts from it, covering them both in the sticky carbonation.

 

“Jeff!” Annie yells laughingly as soda drips down her face and arms.

 

“Oops.”

 

“Oops?!” She points at him, “You just ruined your shirt.”

 

He looks down and shrugs, “It was worth it.”

 

“There’s soda on the ceiling now. I’m not cleaning that up.”

 

Jeff looks up and winces. “Shit.”

 

“Didn’t think it through, did you?’ Annie giggles, lifting her arm to lick at her wrist where soda is sliding down over the palm of her hand. Her eyes meet Jeff’s as her tongue darts out against her skin and the way his eyes instantly darken, the look of amusement sliding off his face, clues her in immediately to how seductive that must have looked.

 

And suddenly everything comes rushing at her – the heated glances, the flirty text messaging - and just like that she needs to kiss him. And he must have the same thought because he starts toward her the same second she does, his hands reaching out to grasp her waist and he’s just about pulled her flush with his body when there’s a knock at the door.

 

Annie yanks back from him, staring at the ground because she cannot look him in the eye right now. “Um.” Her voice is faint as she struggles to catch her breath.

 

“I’ll clean up in here.” Jeff turns away and grabs a washcloth from the soapy sink water and Annie nods numbly, her legs more than a little shaky as she goes to answer the door.

 

Britta and Abed both stare at her curiously as she lets them in with a forced laugh, “I accidentally opened up a can of soda that had fallen on the ground.” She waves her hand in front of her face as if it’s not a big deal. “I’m going to go clean up.”

 

As one, Britta and Abed watch her shut herself in the bathroom, and then turn to Jeff who is busy wiping soda off the cabinets. Britta’s eyes narrow. “Having fun?”

 

Jeff just sort of widens his eyes in acknowledgement of her, his lips pressed together tightly and has he stoops out of sight to wipe up the floor Britta and Abed exchange a knowing roll of their eyes.

 

~*~*~

 

They eat lasagna and garlic bread while watching a series of heist movies like Oceans 11 and The Italian Job until late in the middle of the night when everyone falls asleep sprawled out over the living room. The next morning they all go to Denny’s for breakfast and by the time they’re home again Jeff and Annie have managed to shove the events of the night before into that too familiar box labeled “Do Not Talk About It”.

 

And it works.

 

Until Pierce gets married.

 

~*~*~

 

They’re in separate rooms on Sunday night when they get the text accompanied by a picture of Pierce with his arm around a woman, standing at the railing of the cruise ship. Jeff walks out of his room, staring at his phone and meeting Annie in the living room as she bounds out of the kitchen.

 

“The only shocking part is that I’m somehow shocked.”

 

“Aww. He looks so happy.”

 

“The eternally clueless usually look that way, yes.”

 

Annie rolls her eyes and continues smiling at the picture as Jeff pockets his phone and heads for the kitchen.

 

“I wonder what she’s like.”

 

Jeff laughs. “Is it that big a mystery? Let’s just hope he still managed to get a pre-nup signed out there on the middle of the ocean.”

 

“Ugh. Why do you have to be so cynical, Jeff?”

 

“Because it’s Pierce. You actually believe that’s headed somewhere besides divorce court?” He mutters something under his breath that sounds a little like, “Thank god I stayed away from family law.”

 

“Why can’t you just believe that Pierce found love?”

 

“Because, Annie, our good friend Pierce isn’t looking for love. He’s looking for instant gratification. He’s looking to be worshiped. He’ll marry anyone that gives him any sort of attention.” Jeff walks out of the kitchen with a small bowl of blueberries and sliced strawberries in one hand. He offers it to her and she frowns but still takes a blueberry and pops it in her mouth.

 

“After all this time you can’t give him the benefit of the doubt?”

 

Jeff laughs, “Annie, do I have to remind you about Wu Mei?” He flops down on the couch and rests the bowl on the armrest.

 

“Yeah, but even then it was just as much about companionship as it was about the money.”

 

“Companionship. Not love. And by ‘companionship’ I mean se--”

 

“I KNOW.”

 

Jeff raises an eyebrow at her outburst and Annie takes a deep calming breath. “C’mon Jeff. You’re good at reading people. You haven’t figured out yet that all he’s really looking for is someone to love him? That’s why he acts the way he does when we exclude him.”

 

Jeff only laughs and shakes his head, “Oh, that’s cute.” He fishes a strawberry out of the bowl and grabs the remote control but Annie’s annoyance level spikes again and she reaches over and grabs it out of his hand.

 

“Don’t do that.”

 

“What?” He looks genuinely confused.

 

“Don’t smirk all condescendingly and tell me I’m cute.”

 

“You really, actually, genuinely, seriously believe that Pierce, Pierce Hawthorne, is some romantic on the search for his soul mate. And you expect me to take you seriously right now?”

 

“Why not? My opinion is just as valuable as yours.”

 

“Annie, you’re young. Someday you’ll understand.”

 

“Oh, you mean when I’m old and jaded like you?’

 

“I’m not old!” He jumps to his feet and Annie throws her hands up in exasperation.

 

“That’s really all it took to get you involved in this fight?”

 

“Are we actually fighting about this?” Jeff looks around the room incredulously as if he expects someone to back him up.

 

“You!” Annie shouts and then stops herself, lips pursing together as she gathers her thoughts. When she starts again her voice is low and measured. “I’m not automatically wrong just because I’m young.”

 

He eyes her. “No. But you’re still young.”

 

“So?”

 

“So. One day you’ll grow up and realize that the world isn’t all true love and rainbows and that there are people who don’t deserve the benefit of the doubt.” His voice dark as he moves toward her.

 

“You don’t think I already know that!” She explodes, yelling louder than she means to and he steps back in surprise. “Everyone treats me like I’m some silly naïve little girl but Jeff, I survived a viral video of my breakdown and rehab and being turned out by my own parents and living in a neighborhood I didn’t feel safe walking around! I know that bad things happen. They’ve happened to me. But I still chose to believe the best in people.”

 

Jeff stares at her, lips parted slightly.

 

“You act like I need to grow up, like one day I’ll wake up and understand, but maybe you should give me some credit. Maybe this is just who I am. Despite everything. Maybe you’re the one that needs to grow up.” Annie takes a deep shuddering breath and meets his eyes.

 

“I--”

 

“I think the words you’re looking for are, ‘I’m sorry’.”

 

He still doesn’t say anything though and she spins around, away from him. Realizing that she doesn’t really have anywhere to go she lets out a tiny noise of frustration and then heads to the bathroom, shutting the door firmly behind her. Jeff stares after her, feeling as if he’s just been slapped. Bonelessly he drops to the couch, running his hands through his hair.

 

~*~*~

 

An hour later she still hasn’t emerged from the bathroom.

 

Jeff sits in the same spot on the couch, half watching the door, still trying to process his thoughts. With a deep sigh he finally gets up and knocks softly. “Annie, can we talk?”

 

There’s a pause followed by a quiet, “It’s open.”

 

He tries the handle, pushing the door open, and can’t quite hold back a laugh at the sight of Annie stretched out, fully dressed, in the dry bathtub. Her hands are folded over her stomach and she has a towel rolled up behind her head. Her feet rest up against the shower wall next to the faucet.

 

“Took you long enough,” she says.

 

“So you were testing me?”

 

Annie shrugs.

 

“Look.” He enters and perches himself at the edge of the tub by her feet. “You were right.”

 

“I know.”

 

He laughs and leans forward, resting his elbows against his thighs and clasping his hands together in the space between his legs. “You’re not going to make this easy on me are you?”

Annie shrugs again as she watches the tense curve of his back, the way he hangs his head a little as he sighs.

 

“Look, sometimes it’s easy to forget what you’ve been through. You’re always so… perky. And you like people and you believe in them and…” He turns his head back toward her. “How are you able to do that?”

 

She sits up and brings her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs. “It’s better than the alternative.”

 

“You mean me?” Jeff gives her a half smile as a look of guilt crosses her face. “It’s okay. I figured out pretty early that people suck and I… I changed myself in order to survive that.

 

“So you stopped having feelings?” At his questioning look she continues, “It’s something you said to me once.”

 

Jeff smiles, “I said that?”

 

Annie nods. “But I knew you were full of crap.”

 

He huffs out a laugh, “It was true.” He thinks about it, eyes squinted as he stares at a spot on the wall below the towel rack. “It’s just not now.”

 

Annie bites back the smile that blossoms over her face and rests her chin on her knee. “I “I know that I can still be childish sometimes,” she murmurs.

 

Jeff turns to her. He bumps her leg with the back of his hand. “So can I. And I’m sorry.”

 

She tilts her head to the side in question.

 

“For making it seem like I want you to change. Or expect you to change. I… don’t. You’re…” He trails off and Annie’s not sure if she’s imagining the hint of pink that rises in his cheeks. There’s a fluttering in her stomach and she reaches out and grabs his hand before she can stop herself. They’re both quiet again for a long moment, fingers curled together.

 

“So we’re good?” she whispers finally.

 

“We’re good.” Jeff stands and pulls her with him and she uses the momentum forward to lean into him and wrap her arms around him. Jeff hugs her back, one hand resting lightly against the back of her head as she lets out a deep breath.

 

“I still only give Pierce’s marriage about sixty days though.”

 

“Jeff!”

 

“You can’t disregard my opinion just because I’m jaded, Annie.”

 

She rolls her eyes at him as she follows him out of the bathroom.


	7. Chapter 7

It’s a warm summer late afternoon and the sun hangs low in the sky over the line of trees surrounding the park as Abed shouts rapid-fire directions at his small and exhausted film crew who scurry about trying to get in the last shot of the day. He adjusts his baseball cap and sits back in his director’s chair, scrutinizing the scene before nodding confidently.

 

“Action.”

 

Nearby, Annie, Jeff and Britta lounge across a picnic table watching the proceedings with amusement. Annie sits cross-legged on the table, her half-eaten burger and fries arranged on a flattened take-out bag while Britta sprawls out next to her, feet resting on the bench next to where Jeff is sitting facing Annie. Earlier that day the trio had set out on a mini road trip to Uncle Rusty’s for hamburgers (or in Britta’s case, a garden burger), bringing back enough for Abed’s entire cast and crew, all of whom had accepted the offering of cold fast food gratefully. Abed had only sighed and reluctantly called for a ten minute break.

 

“Chad, there has to be something we can do. If we just talk to your father, maybe he’ll understand.”

 

“I’m sorry Victoria. What’s done is done. I’m leaving. This is goodbye.”

 

“Victoria” lets out a loud sob, grabbing onto the collar of “Chad’s” shirt just as Abed calls, “Cut!” in an exasperated voice and heads toward them with a script in his hand.

 

Britta’s lips twist together, “I thought this was supposed to be a comedy.” She keeps her voice low.

 

“It was…” Annie says slowly. “But Abed did say he wanted to add some emotional depth to his film.”

 

Jeff shakes his head, not looking up from the game on his phone. “Yeesh. Abed should to stick to what he knows.”

 

“Jeff!” both women scold him in unison and he looks up and glances between them with a frown.

 

“He understands emotion, Jeff. He just expresses it differently than we do. Like through his movie.” Annie follows this up with a french fry thrown at his head that he somehow manages to catch. He grins at her as he pops it in his mouth.

 

“So what’s with The Notebook: Greendale Edition over here then?”

 

“That’s easy,” Britta pipes up, throwing her hand up in the air. “Troy.”

 

“See.” Annie raises an eyebrow at Jeff, but he just tilts his head to the side and furrows his brow at her in amusement.

 

“Abed misses Troy more than he realizes and since he doesn’t know how to react to those feelings he’s projecting them onto his movie.” Britta flourishes her hand out in the direction of the film crew.

 

Annie nods furiously. “We should do something.”

 

“Or. You guys could drop it and not make a big deal about it.”

 

“We’re worried about him, Jeff.” Annie looks likes she’s gearing up for some serious eye fluttering and Jeff narrows his eyes at her and shakes his head slowly.

 

“It’s okay, Jeff. We don’t expect you to understand emotional depth either.” Britta’s voice drips with condescension as she reaches out and pats his arm.

 

“Maybe I’m just annoyed, Sigmund Freud.” There’s a pause and then his face lights up. He pumps his fist in victory as Annie laughs loudly and Britta rolls her eyes up toward the sky.

 

“How long have you been waiting to use that one?”

 

“Since you declared a major.”

 

Jeff and Britta continue sniping at each other, Annie glancing back and forth between them like she’s watching a tennis match until her phone buzzes with a text. She wipes her hands and reaches for it from the depths of her purse, laughing quietly as she reads the new message and types a quick reply.

 

“Oooohh, is that Bar Guy?” Britta sing-songs.

 

“No, it’s someone from work. One of our co-workers--”

 

“Bar Guy?” Jeff interrupts.

 

Annie slides her gaze over to him. “It’s nothing. Just this guy I met when I was out last week.”

 

Jeff frowns and Annie watches him carefully, trying to gage his expression as her fingers clench around the phone at the sudden memory of lying in bed in the middle of the night and flirting with him through the relative safety of text message and a closed bedroom door.

 

“Well he sounds fun, Annie. You should go for it.”

 

“She’s not you, Britta,” Jeff intones darkly and Britta arches an eyebrow, throwing her shoulders back like she’s winding up for a fight.

 

“Don’t, you guys. Really. It’s not worth even talking about. That’s why I didn’t bring it up.” Annie directs this last part to Jeff and he meets her eyes again. A faint smile flickers at his lips and Annie feels it low in her stomach.

 

“GUYS.” They look up at the sound of Garrett’s high-pitched, frantic voice to see him huffing and puffing his way toward them, arms already flailing around with emphasis. “Guys, you are being VERY distracting and Abed needs TOTAL silence.” His entire body seems to heave with each word. “So please. Just LEAVE,” he finishes with a shriek and turns away red-faced and muttering.

 

Annie, Britta and Jeff all wear similar looks of wide-eyed amusement but from across the stretch of lawn they can see Abed watching them with a deadpan stare that’s more than a little unnerving so they gather up their trash and back away towards Jeff’s car, giggling like reprimanded school children.

 

The moment they all shut their doors Jeff sniffs at the air and scowls. “My car smells like a fast food restaurant now. It’s going to take me weeks to air it out.”

 

Britta scoffs. “Oh chill out. It’s just a car. I think the smell gives it personality.”

 

“Says the woman whose car regularly smells like the inside of a shoe.”

 

Annie hums and nods in agreement, then turns to shrug at Britta apologetically.

 

“That’s my ‘new car’ scented air freshener. Because it’s all about mind over matter.” Britta touches a finger to her temple and then to the tabletop. “See, unlike you, Jeff, and your elite middle class materialism, I don’t need a new car to feel fancy. I can trick my old factory into thinking I’m in a new car.”

 

“Have you ever been in a new car, Britta?

 

“Old factory?”

 

“Yes?” Britta pauses and then sinks back into her seat with her arms folded over her chest. “Shut up. I hate you both.”

~*~*~

 

It’s dusky by the time they drop Britta off at her apartment, the first stars starting to twinkle up in the night sky. Jeff slides his sunglasses off and tucks them safely into the sun visor, glancing at Annie from the corner of his eye as he pulls back out onto the street towards home. She’s leaning her head against the passenger side window, eyes closed and humming along softly to the classic rock station that they’ve been listening to all day.

 

Jeff rolls his window down a crack, letting in a rush of cool air that feels refreshing after an entire day of driving down the highway with the warm summer sun beating in against his skin. He taps his thumb against the steering wheel to the beat of the music and leans back into his seat with a silent yawn. The light ahead of him turns yellow and he slows to a smooth stop, flicking on his blinker to make the left turn.

 

Next to him Annie sighs and shifts, her eyes fluttering open to peer at him with a slow smile. Jeff smiles back, reaching out to nudge her thigh with the back of his hand. Annie makes a soft giggling noise in her throat and her eyes close again but her mouth remains turned up at the corners as she curls back against the door.

 

Jeff almost misses it when the light turns green.

 

A few minutes later he’s turning into the apartment complex parking lot where his eyes are almost immediately drawn to a brand new BMW parked diagonally across two parking spots in the visitors section. He gazes at the sleek silver design appreciatively, and then realizes that he recognizes the plates.

 

“Fuck.”

 

“Hmm?” Annie startles awake and sits up, rubbing at her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

 

“Alan.”

 

“What?” She looks around frantically as Jeff pulls into his spot and kills the engine. “Ew. Why?”

 

Jeff doesn’t answer, just glances down into his side mirror, watching as Alan gets out of his car and strides towards them.

 

“You could just drive away,” Annie offers.

 

“Or run him over.”

 

She considers this and gives him a short nod. “We can argue that it was an act of self-defense. I’ll be your witness.”

 

“No judge who ever met him would convict.”

 

Annie’s still laughing as they reluctantly exit the car and Alan comes up on the driver’s side with his arms spread wide.

 

“Winger! I was just about to give up on you.”

 

“Too bad.” Jeff mutters with a raise of his eyebrows.

 

Alan’s eyes drift towards Annie as she skirts around the edge of the car, lingering on her face and then dropping below her chin. A slow smile pulls at his lips at the sight of all the skin her tank-top reveals and Annie’s suddenly wishing she had splurged for that souvenir Uncle Rusty’s tee she had been contemplating earlier.

 

“Heeeeeeeey. I remember you.” His eyes don’t leave her chest.

 

“Um,” she answers shortly, walking a wide circle around him. “I’m going to wait over…” Annie waves her hand vaguely toward the entrance off the building and hurries away before finishing her sentence.

 

Jeff watches her leave and turns to Alan with feigned interest. ‘What’s up?”

 

Alan’s eyes get big as he nods towards Annie and makes an obscene humping motion with his hips. “Niiiiiiiice. And young. I like it. She must be so--”

 

“Did you need something?” Jeff interjects with a quick glance over his shoulder.

 

But Alan isn’t so easily thrown off course. “Man, are you shacking up with her?”

 

When Jeff doesn’t immediately deny it Alan lets out a loud barking laugh. “Woah-ho! It’s like I barely know you anymore.” He leans in and starts mock punching Jeff in the stomach. “Cause I thought you were saving yourself for me.” Fists still clenched, he shakes them up by his face, his voice going tight and high-pitched. “Ahh! I’m so jealous.”

 

Jeff only widens his eyes a little as he presses his lips together in a tight smile. Alan regains his composure and steps back, smoothing down his tie, “Seriously though. I thought you were going to the party tonight.” He looks Jeff up and down, eyeing the faded tee-shirt, jeans and white Vans. 

 

“See, this is what happens. When we tie ourselves down to one woman. If you’re not careful your life will become weekly trips to tampon fairs and listening to Celine Dion while you cry yourself to sleep every night faster than you can say, ‘The View SUCKS.’”

 

Jeff grins crookedly at his. “You understand so much about women.”

 

From a few feet away Annie can just barely make out snippets of their conversation but the part that she can hear makes her grimace and shudder. She tries her best to tune it out until Jeff starts toward her, thankfully alone as Alan heads back to his car.

 

“Sorry about that. He’s…”

 

“Gross?”

 

“That’s one word for it.” Jeff opens the door and gestures for her to go through first. “I forgot about this party at work tonight. I have to go.”

 

“Oh. Okay.”

 

“You got big plans for the night?” Jeff asks from behind her a moment later.

 

“No. Pajamas and a movie probably. You’ll really be missing out.”

 

He mumbles something that she can’t hear but as she’s about to look over her shoulder to question him she feels her phone vibrate again from her purse. She waits until she reaches their floor and pushes open the door to the hallway before checking it, digging through her bag as she holds her body against the door so Jeff can walk past.

 

It’s a text from Shirley confirming plans to go shopping the next day and Annie’s fingers move quickly over the keypad in response, not paying attention as she walks slowly towards the apartment. When she looks up she’s startled to see Jeff watching her, his hand on the doorknob, key poised in front of the lock.

 

“Wha--” She starts before he interrupts her.

 

“You should come.”

 

“--huh?”

 

“Do you want to come? To the party tonight?” Jeff looks away and finishes unlocking the door, shrugging like it’s no big deal.

 

“Why?” Annie follows him into the apartment where he flips on the light in the living room and heads into the kitchen, which he leaves dark as he rummages around.

 

“It’ll be fun. And it’ll save you from yet another boring night sitting at home watching one of your dumb girly movies.” He grabs two bottles of water from the fridge, sliding one across to her. 

 

“My movies aren’t dumb. Or girly. They’re romantic.”

 

“Same difference.”

 

“Oh, like you’re one to talk. I’ve seen your DVD collection. I know you own a copy of Serendipity.”

 

“That is a bold faced lie.” Jeff takes a sip of water, eyes narrowed in thought. “And if you tell anyone, we won’t be friends anymore.”

 

Annie smiles then, pressing her palms against the counter and leaning forward.

 

“You didn’t really answer my question.”

 

“Look, Kate Beckinsale is hot. You can’t fault me for--”

 

“That’s not what I’m talking about.” She cocks her head to the side as she studies him.

 

“Is this one of those things where we have to pretend to be dating so you can impress your boss who’s really into family values, or something?”

 

“Not unless this is an episode of Friends. Why are you questioning it? You’re twenty-one. You’re supposed to be having fun.”

 

“And I can do that by going to a cocktail party with a bunch of stuffy lawyers?”

 

“Hey. I’m not stuffy.”

 

Annie makes a “meh” sound and shrugs her shoulders but she can’t keep a straight face for very long as he gapes at her in affront. She smiles slyly from under her eyelashes and Jeff snorts.

 

“Hey, if you don’t want to go. I just thought I’d ask.”

 

“No, I’ll go.” Annie nods quickly. “I’ll go.”

 

“Good.” They grin at each other across the counter as she backs away toward the bathroom. “It’ll be fun, I promise.”

 

~*~*~

 

Forty-five minutes later Jeff walks out of his room, his suit jacket draped over one arm as he buttons the cuffs of his sleeves.

 

“You ready?” He looks up and stops mid-step.

 

Annie’s standing at the counter, her hand braced on one of the barstools as she leans down to slip on a pair of strappy heels. She’s wearing a simple black fitted dress that reveals the faintest hint of cleavage and falls just above her knees. Her hair is pulled back and off her neck into a smooth twist, her make-up is darker than normal and the entire effect is stunning to be sure but Jeff can’t help but feel slightly discomfited at how un-Annie she looks.

 

“What?” She lets out a nervous laugh as she straightens and smoothes her palms down the front of her dress.

 

“Nothing.” Jeff shakes himself out of it and shrugs on his coat. “You look nice.”

 

“Thanks,” she beams. “So do you.”

 

Jeff bites back a resounding “duh” and grins as he grabs his wallet and keys from the counter. “We don’t have to stay long. If you’re bored. Or Alan gets too handsy.”

 

Annie’s eyes widen conspiratorially. “Should we have a signal or something? Like I’ll tug on my ear if I’m ready to leave and you’ll cough twice or play with your tie?”

 

“Sure. Or I could say, ‘Annie, let’s get the fuck out of here.’”

 

“You’d make a terrible spy,” she sighs out her disappointment as she follows him out the door.

 

Jeff laughs. “Just promise me you won’t chloroform anyone this time.”

 

Annie giggles, taking his arm as he offers it to her. “I guess we’ll have to see how the night goes.”

 

~*~*~

 

The party’s already in full swing when Jeff and Annie walk in through the large double doors, the latter biting her lip and looking around nervously, curling her fingers a little tighter around Jeff’s arm. He looks down at her with a questioning frown.

 

“Are you sure I look okay?” Annie eyes a tall, leggy blonde woman who walks by them in a blue halter dress and six inch heels.

 

“You look fine. What’s--”

 

“Jeff!” Ted calls out to him cheerfully, winding through the crowd to meet them. “Glad you could come.”

 

“Wouldn’t miss it.” Jeff turns to Annie, resting his hand lightly on her mid-back. “Ted, this is my friend Annie.”

 

“Annie! Good to meet you.” He reaches out to shake her hand and Annie’s eyes widen a little at the strange hollow popping sound when their hands meet. “Jeff’s told me a lot about you.” 

 

“Oh.” She looks up at Jeff in surprise. He looks startled and his eyes slide over to her for just a second before he looks away, his cheeks slightly pink. “Well, likewise. I know he loves working here.”

 

“We’re lucky to have him. And since this is a celebration,” Ted looks around and snags two champagne glasses from a nearby table, hands them to Jeff and Annie and then grabs one for himself. “Cheers.”

 

“And good riddance,” Jeff adds with a smirk before taking a sip.

 

Ted laughs jovially, clapping him on the back and telling them both to have a good time before he moves on to mingle with the next group of people who just walked in the door.

 

Annie raises her eyebrow in question, “Good riddance?”

 

Jeff nods and points with his glass to an older gentleman with salt and pepper hair standing near a large gold banner that reads, “Congratulations Bill!”

 

“Bill Jacobson. He’s retiring.”

 

“Aw.”

 

“Yeah, no. He’s huge a dick. He was the one that told me I was fired. Pretty much laughed in my face.” His jaw clenches at the memory and he quickly drains half of his champagne. “See his wife there?”

 

Standing next to Bill is a woman about his own age in a long silver dress, her graying hair cut in a short bob and her lips pinched into a permanent sour face. “He’s leaving her to move to Tahiti with his thirty-year-old girlfriend.”

 

Annie gasps. “That’s terrible. Does she know?”

 

“Yup. All of this is just for show. She keeps quiet and she walks away with money.” There’s a fairly detectable level of disdain in his voice that makes Annie peer up at him curiously through her eyelashes. He shrugs. “That’s not even the worst of it.”

 

Annie frowns, glancing around the room. The loud buzz of conversation and clanking glasses mingles with the sounds of classical piano music being piped in through the speakers as waiters in black and white uniforms make their rounds with trays of mostly untouched hors d’oeuvres. Out of the corner of her eye she sees a couple approach Bill, offering their congratulations, and he smiles wide and takes his wife’s hand, patting the back of it while she smiles stiffly.

 

“Tell me more.”

 

Jeff laughs, his eyes lighting up at the chance to gossip. He leans close and spends the next ten minutes entertaining her with stories about some of the other well documented bad behavior happening in and around the law firm. There’s Harvey who’s being audited for tax fraud, Connie who left her husband for her nanny, Brad who’s was caught in flagrante with his secretary in the elevator just last week…

 

“And then there’s--”

 

“Did I hear my name?” a voice says from behind them. They both turn as one to see Alan eying them coyly, his shoulders shrugged up and his hands clasped in front of his chest. “Are you guys talking about me? Only terrible things I hope.”

 

Once again his eyes zero in on Annie’s chest. “Wouldn’t want your new girlfriend getting the wrong idea and feeling safe around me, Winger. I’m liable to swoop right in and steal her away.”

 

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” Annie pipes up, raising her glass and downing half of it in one gulp as Jeff tries to cover a laugh behind his closed fist.

 

Alan throws her a brief narrow eyed-glare like he’s trying to figure her out before quickly shaking it off and stepping up to tug on the lapels of Jeff’s jacket. “Now this is more like it. You’re dressed like a real man, Pinocchio, doesn’t that feel better?”

 

Jeff lets out a loud, fake laugh and swats his hand away.

 

“Pinocchio?” Annie scrunches her nose up in confusion.

 

“Disney, baby. Look it up.” He points his finger at her, cocks it like a gun and makes a little pew noise.

 

“My name’s Annie,” she retorts.

 

Alan backs away laughing, hands held out in front of him. “See. Careful, Winger. She’s already trying to throw herself at me.” He sighs out a laugh and shakes his head, disappearing into the crowd.

 

Jeff taps his glass against his pursed lips. “Are we having fun yet?”

 

Next to him Annie vigorously tugs on her ear.

 

~*~*~

 

They walk around the party making small talk with different co-workers that Jeff introduces her to and Annie listens as he engages in work banter, only half understanding what he’s talking about and making a mental note to research legal jargon for future use.

 

At one point they get caught up in a conversation about an on-going sexual harassment case in which the firm is defending the accused and Jeff has to quickly extract Annie when he notices her squaring up her shoulders and going almost short of breath in pure indignation at the derogatory language being thrown around.

 

“Those guys are jerks,” she breathes out as they walk away. “How can you even work here?”

 

“Those guys?”

 

“Oh please. You were never that bad.”

 

After her second glass of champagne Annie excuses herself to the bathroom but when she returns Jeff’s nowhere in sight. She frowns, popping up on her toes and scanning above the crowd, turning slowly. As she circles back around suddenly Alan is standing right there in front of her.

 

“Oh!” She takes a step back, pressing her hand to her chest. “Have you seen Jeff?”

 

“Noooo,” his mouth turns down in exaggerated concern. “He didn’t leave you here to fend for yourself did he? Ugh. So typical of that guy. Always moving on to the next best thing.”

 

Annie rolls her eyes, “Thanks for the help.”

 

“Heeeey. No need to worry.” He reaches out and rubs his thumb against her elbow. “I can take care of you.”

 

“No thanks.” Annie flinches away. “I really don’t need anyone to take care of me.” She spins around and retreats to the bar, trying to  
hold back a shudder.

 

Alan follows her. “Hey baby, I get it--”

 

“Annie.”

 

“—You’re an independent woman. I like that. Fiesty.” He punctuates this with a lascivious grin, his hands held up like claws. “Me-ow.”

 

She gives him an incredulous look. There’s a tray of stuffed mushrooms sitting on the bar next to her and she grabs one and shoves it in her mouth to try and avoid talking to him any longer, pointing to her mouth as she chews, miming an apology.

 

“How about you and I go upstairs and I show you how a real lawyer works.”

 

Annie freezes, her fists clenching at her sides as she glares at him and continues chewing slowly, confidence washing over her as she makes a quick decision. When she swallows she dabs at her mouth with a napkin from the bar and takes a deep breath.

 

“I thought Jeff was your friend.”

 

“You and I can be friends. Good friends. He won’t mind.”

 

Annie nods calmly. “You know what? I think he would mind. And I think he’d also mind if he ever found out who it was who was responsible for getting him fired.”

 

Alan’s smile falters as he takes a surprised step back. He laughs nervously and reaches his hand up to straighten his tie, glancing around the room. “Uh yeah, I already told him it was Thompson.”

 

“But we both know that was a lie don’t we?” Annie arches an eyebrow, a delicious surge of adrenaline running through her veins. “It was you. You wrote that email.”

 

“You couldn’t possibly know that.”

 

“But I do. I happen to have a printout of said email.” She shakes her head and tsks. “You know, if you’re going to send incriminating emails you should really learn to delete them off your hard drive. That’s poor planning,”

 

“Okay fine,” Alan steps in close, lowering his voice, his eyes taking on a cold hard glint. “Obviously Jeff doesn’t know.”

 

“Not yet.” Annie smiles.

 

“So what do you want? Money?”

 

Annie pauses to consider, suddenly realizing that she’s not sure exactly what she wants to accomplish with this other than putting Alan in his place. “I… will have to get back to you on… that.” She stands up taller and sticks her chin out confidently. “And you can rest assured that I will get back to you.”

 

With a snort, Alan turns and walks away but Annie’s almost positive that he looks a little shaken, glancing this way and that before making his way outside. She giggles and does a little bouncing shimmy, looking around for Jeff with renewed interest.

 

~*~*~

 

He finds her at the bar a couple minutes later staring into space, her chin cupped in one hand as the other plays idly with the stem of her champagne glass. When he sidles up to her she straightens up, smiling widely.

 

“There you are.” She reaches out to push playfully at his arm, “Where have you been?”

 

“Sorry about that. Dan just bought a Porsche - god, it’s beautiful. Silver, leather interior, sunroof, steering wheel warmers. Steering wheel warmers, Annie. You should see it; you’ll fall in love.” He closes his eyes for a moment, savoring the memory and Annie raises an eyebrow in amusement.

 

“Anyway. I didn’t think it’d take so long.”

 

Annie shakes her head. “It’s okay. Besides.” She steps closer and looks around, lowering her voice. “Something happened.”

 

“Yeah?” Jeff takes the glass from her hand and finishes it off, grinning down at her. As she explains what happened with Alan though his smile falters.

 

“Wait. You told him I know?” He blows out a puff of air and rubs his hand over the back of his neck in agitation but Annie shakes her head and reaches up to tug on his wrist, bringing his hand down to clasp between hers.

 

“No. Of course not. I only told him that I know. He still doesn’t know that you know. And he doesn’t want you to know. So.” She raises her eyebrows pointedly.

 

Jeff’s lips part as understanding dawns. “Annie,” he breathes out in awe. “You devious little--”

 

“I know, right?” She giggles and bounces up on her toes into him. “It’s like he’s our own personal puppet.” Her eyes gleam. “What should we make him do first?”

 

“Who are you?”

 

Annie drops a little curtsey, curling her chin down to her shoulder and Jeff laughs and then looks around until he spots a full bottle of champagne sitting in a bucket of ice on a nearby table. “C’mon.” He grabs Annie’s hand and tugs her after him, swiping the champagne as he passes.

 

“Where are we going? Jeff?”

 

“I want to show you something.” He pulls her around the corner toward a bank of elevators where he jabs his thumb against the up button. The doors to their right slide open almost immediately and they step in, still holding hands.

 

“What are we doing? Is this about the Alan thing? You’re not upset are you? Because--”

 

“Annie. This has nothing to do with Alan.”

 

They arrive at the forth floor with a tiny ping of the elevator and Jeff lets go of her hand and nods his head at her to follow as he steps into the hallway and rounds the corner to the right.

 

Annie bites her lip and hurries after him.

 

“I really shouldn’t be seen up here. The statute of limitations on criminal trespassing is three years and if the same janitor is working and he recognizes me--”

 

Jeff stops suddenly and looks back at her incredulously. “Did you seriously look that up?” Annie shrugs and Jeff rolls his eyes and continues down the hall. “Remember what I said about having fun?”

 

“I don’t consider possible prison time to be fun, Jeff.”

 

“You’re not gonna go to prison. Besides.” Jeff stops and turns around to face her. The janitor you chloroformed doesn’t work here anymore. He quit last year.”

 

Annie gasps and swats at his shoulder. “Why didn’t you tell me that in the first place, you jerk?”

 

“Cause it’s fun to see you get so worked up.” He grabs at her wrist to hold her off, laughing and holding on loosely as she halfheartedly tries to tug away.

 

“You’re mean,” she whispers.

 

“Sorry,” he whispers back and nods toward the door they’re standing in front of. “This is what I wanted to show you.” He tries the handle and it swings open, unlocked.

 

“Are we supposed to be in here?” Annie checks the placard in the hallway, which reads: James Weyman, Attorney at Law.

 

“Nope.” Jeff feels along the wall to flick the light switch on and then steps into the room, spinning back around to face Annie.

 

“Jeff?”

 

“This. Was my office.”

 

Annie’s mouth snaps shut. Jeff holds her gaze with a faint smile and then looks around, nodding to himself.

 

“Oh.” Annie bites her lip, still half-standing in the hallway, her hand braced on the doorframe. It’s a spacious room - built in bookshelves stacked end to end with law books, boxes of files piled up here and there, a table and a couple of chairs in one corner, and small leather sofa where Jeff drops himself and takes a long swig of champagne.

 

Annie steps in tentatively, moving toward the large mahogany desk and running her fingers along the smooth surface. Almost every inch is covered in papers and files and yellow post-it notes and she’s careful not to disturb anything as she steadies herself with one palm and slips her heels off one at a time. The carpet feels soft against her bare feet and she wiggles her toes a little before taking a seat in the high back desk chair. With one foot against the floor she pushes herself around, letting the chair spin a couple complete circles before coming to a stop, facing Jeff, with her hands grasping the edge of the desk.

 

Jeff leans his elbow on the armrest, his chin cupped in his hand as he watches her.

 

Annie lets out a quiet sigh, looking over the desk again. There are a couple framed pictures amongst the mess – a wedding photo of a young couple and then that same couple with an infant in front of a Christmas tree.

 

“Who is he?”

 

“Don’t know. Some guy they hired after I left.”

 

She nods, trying to imagine a slightly younger, cockier Jeff Winger at this desk, his feet propped up as he talks on the phone, barking orders at some poor paralegal, working long into the night on a difficult case, waking up to the early dawn on the couch in a rumpled suit.

 

“Do you miss it?”

 

Jeff takes another pull of champagne and leans forward to rest his forearms on his thighs. “Yeah.” His voice is low and a little raspy.

 

Annie nods slowly. “You really like it. Being a lawyer.” It’s not so much a question as a statement. Like it’s just occurring to her.

 

“Yeaaaahhh?”

 

“Sorry. I don’t know. I never really thought about it.”

 

Jeff grins. “Thought I just liked the title? The ability to manipulate people for money?”

 

“Maybe?” Annie winces.

 

“Trust me, I never would have set foot in Greendale if it was about that. I’d have just chosen another career to lie my way into.”

 

“Like Wall Street or something?”

 

“Well, greed is good.”

 

“What?”

 

“Nevermind.” Jeff leans back, stretching his legs out in front of him, crossed at the ankles. He smoothes his hand along his tie, flipping up the tapered end, glaring at it and then shaking his head and resting his arm up along the back of the sofa. “So, why are you dressed like a librarian tonight?”

 

Annie frowns and touches the back of her hair lightly. “I thought it would make me look older.” Jeff raises an eyebrow and she sighs heavily, “I didn’t think you’d want to walk in here with someone who looks like a teenager on your arm.”

 

She meets his eyes, a little surprised when he doesn’t laugh or flash his trademark smirk. Instead, he blinks slowly and squints at her so that the creases at the corners of his eyes crinkle. Annie pauses before reaching up and carefully slipping the handful of bobby pins from her neat bun, letting her hair tumble down to her shoulders in waves. She closes her eyes and runs her fingers through the slightly tangled strands, the citrusy scent of hair product wafting around her.

 

“Now you look more like you,” Jeff says, his voice low.

 

Annie drops her hands back flat on the desk. “Are you drunk?”

 

“No.”

 

She quirks an eyebrow. “Liar.” But she’s already getting to her feet and moving back around the desk. “You wouldn’t have brought me up here if you were sober.”

 

Jeff frowns, “How do you know?”

 

“I know you.” Annie drops down at his side, under his arm, and tucks her legs up underneath her. She wiggles a little and tugs at the bottom of her dress to keep it at a respectable length.

 

“And yet you keep hanging around.”

 

Annie smiles and turns into him a bit. She grabs the champagne from him and takes a tiny sip, then cradles the bottle against her chest and closes her eyes. A moment later she feels him shift and then his fingers are combing gently through her hair.

 

“I can’t stop thinking about that car,” he murmurs suddenly.

 

“Seriously?” she laughs. “What it is with you and cars?”

 

“Hmmm.” Jeff tugs the champagne out of her hand. He’s quiet as he takes a long pull. “They’re sexy, Annie. What more is there to know?”

 

“And that’s all it takes to be attracted to something? Sex?”

 

“Wow.” He leans his head back and stares up at the ceiling. “Your ability to twist words around rivals… well, my own. I’d feel proud but I get the feeling you’ve always been this way.” His fingers trail from her hair, down her arm, smoothing fingertips to her elbow and back up. Annie curls into him more, resting her hand against his chest and fingering a button on his shirt.

 

“Yup. I just didn’t realize it.”

 

“And now you’ve learned how to harness your powers. We’re all doomed.”

 

Annie giggles and tilts her head up so that her forehead nudges against his chin and they stay quiet like that for a long moment until she feels him move under her and then his lips are brushing along her hairline and his arm tightens around her, tucking her in closer.

 

His heart beats out a quickening tempo under her ear, matching her own but she still just feels warm and relaxed from the several glasses of champagne she had downstairs. She presses up higher so that he can mouth a trail down the side of her temple to her cheekbone where he nuzzles his nose and brushes a soft kiss.

 

Annie slides her hand up, scratching gently at his skin as she curls her fingers around the back of his neck and into his hair. Jeff makes a sound low in his throat and Annie feels it vibrate through her as the corners of their mouths brush. They both inhale sharply through their noses and in the next moment their lips are sliding together.

 

Jeff cups the back of her head, bringing her in closer and Annie parts her lips, changing the angle and sighing into his mouth when he does the same. They both sink into the kiss, keeping it light and soft until suddenly Jeff’s breaking away and leaning back.

 

A surge of annoyance rushes through Annie and she growls out, “If you apologize for kissing me I’ll punch you in the nose again,” before she can stop herself.

 

Jeff freezes, one eyebrow slowly arching up before he continues leaning down to set the bottle of champagne on the ground.

 

“Oh.”

 

When he straightens up he’s smirking and Annie rolls her eyes at him as she curls her hand around his neck to bring in and kiss him again, harder and a little more frantically this time.

 

Jeff wraps both arms around her and Annie maneuvers to her knees as their tongues slide together, wanting to get as close to him as possible. She tries to swing one leg around him to straddle his lap but her skirt’s too tight and she makes a tiny noise of frustration as Jeff starts kissing down her jaw line and under her ear where he sucks lightly at the sensitive skin. He laughs against her and then curls one arm under her knees, pulling both of her legs up over his.

 

“Good?” he mutters.

 

“Hmmm.” Annie slides her hands up his chest under his jacket, stopping to curl her fingers into the muscle at his shoulders before pushing at the jacket and trying to slide it off. Jeff takes the hint and stops kissing her long enough to lean forward so they can both maneuver it down his arms. Once it’s loose Annie takes it and lays it neatly over the armrest of the couch, giving him a little smirk that makes him laugh.

 

She loops her arms around his neck and leans back, pulling him with her until she’s lying on her back and he’s hovered over her. Jeff continues sliding his lips down her throat, along her collarbone to the neckline of her dress where he nuzzles his nose and then kisses the swell of each breast. Annie arches into him, sighing, and tugging on his hair to bring him back up for another kiss.

 

Her hands move down the curve of his low back and her fingers hook into his belt loops momentarily before sliding back up so she can start yanking his shirt loose from his pants and then smooth her fingers up underneath the material to press her palms against the warm skin of his back.

 

Jeff feels her fingers trailing up and down his spine like she’s trying to map out his body and it’s innocent and erotic and suddenly really fucking terrifying. His entire body shudders involuntarily and he buries his face against her neck. Her hands still, pressing flat against him.

 

“Jeff,” she whispers. He huffs out a laugh and kisses the side of her neck, nodding and leaning up to meet her eyes. Annie flushes as she slides her hands out from under his shirt and then around to rest on his hips.

 

“Is this?” Jeff starts before he realizes he doesn’t exactly know where he’s going with that question. He purses his lips and exhales loudly.

 

Annie shrugs. “I think.” She measures out her words carefully. “It doesn’t have to be a big deal. Maybe we can agree that sometimes friends kiss. And it doesn’t have to mean anything else.

 

Jeff squints down at her, eyes roaming over her face. He shifts his weight to one arm and reaches up to palm back hair from her forehead.

 

“Friends.”

 

She nods, eyes widening hopefully as her hands move up to his waist and grasp at him a little tighter. Jeff smiles softly and leans back down to kiss her once. Twice. Three times.

 

“Friends.”


	8. Chapter 8

They never talk about what happened in Jeff’s old office.

 

But it keeps happening.

 

The day after the party Jeff is sitting on the couch, half watching a Rockies game, half engrossed in trying to figure out what Britta’s clue in Draw Something means - after ten erased attempts she’s drawn one black line with about fifteen arrows pointing to it.

 

Jeff leans back and swings his legs up to rest on the coffee table but the movement jars the one short table leg off the book it’s propped up on to keep it level. The entire table tilts to that corner and Jeff’s mug goes careening off the side, hot coffee splashing up over everything in proximity.

 

“Shit.”

 

He cleans up the mess, muttering obscenities under his breath the entire time and then declares that he’s had enough, it’s time to buy a new table. Annie’s eyes light up in excitement and it’s somehow no surprise when she produces a catalogue for a local furniture store out of thin air.

 

“You’re ridiculous.”

 

But he’s putting on his shoes and five minutes later they’re headed downtown to the large warehouse store.

 

They’re there for almost an hour, walking through the various staged living rooms, Annie cooing over glass tops and cherry wood and hidden drawers while Jeff gets side-tracked by plush leather recliners that he insists on stopping to test out, stretching out his long legs and curling his arms behind his head in repose.

 

“That’s not going to help you pick out a coffee table, Jeff.”

 

“And neither is that fact sheet you’re creating for every table we look at.” He stands when she gasps in indignation and puts his hands on her shoulders, turning her toward him. “Don’t think about it; which one is your favorite?

 

Annie pauses for only a second before pointing at a table behind him. It’s black and rectangular, with square legs that curve slightly toward the floor, a bottom shelf and a small drawer on one side with a silver knobbed handle. Jeff eyes it and shrugs.

 

“Okay. I’ll get that one.”

 

He rolls his eyes as she starts to protest - her words belied by the tiny satisfied smile playing at her lips - and then goes to pay and arrange for delivery while she continues looking around. When he’s done he quickly scans the store but can’t see her so he pulls out his phone to send her a quick text.

 

“marco.”

 

Her reply is immediate. “Polo” followed quickly by “In the back.”

 

Jeff grins and slips the phone back in his pocket as he makes his way through the maze of furniture, finally finding her wandering through an immaculate showroom kitchen. He leans slightly into the faux wall, unsure how much weight it can actually support and watches as she runs her fingers along the sleek stainless steel faucets.

 

“Considering a remodel?”

 

Annie looks up, smiling, and shrugs. “I like all the counter space.”

 

“Um. I have plenty of counter space.”

 

She doesn’t respond and Jeff glances around as he walks toward her, opening and shutting a couple of the high cabinet doors.

 

“You’re too short for this kitchen anyway. You’d never be able to reach anything.”

 

“I’m not that tiny.” Annie frowns. “You’re just stupidly tall.”

 

“Yeah, but at least I can reach the top shelf.” He’s standing directly in front of her but she doesn’t look at him, her eyes trained on the edge of the counter where her fingers are tracing an aimless, nervous pattern. After a moment when he doesn’t say anything she glances up through her eyelashes, biting at her lip like she’s trying not to smile.

 

Jeff raises an eyebrow and reaches up to brush his fingertips along her jaw, thumb under her chin so he can tilt her face to his as he leans down slowly. She doesn’t move in closer or go up on her toes but as their lips press together she hums and her hand comes up to rest over his where his fingers are splayed along her neck.

 

It’s brief, firm and close-mouthed and then one last quick peck before they break away entirely. Annie clears her throat as Jeff moves back to a respectable distance, squinting down at her in question. She smiles in return, a slight curve of her lips that turns radiant as she clasps her hands behind her back and turns to leave. “So. Lunch?”

 

He nods and follows.

 

A few days later when Annie gets an unusual mid-morning break she calls Jeff and he meets her down the street at a coffee shop where she slips off her shoes and curls up across from him in a large cushioned chair. She sips an iced tea, the condensation from the plastic cup cold and wet on her palms, and laughs as he tells her about how Alan’s been so skittish this week that everyone’s starting to suspect he’s using coke again.

 

Afterwards, Jeff walks her back to her office and while they’re standing at the corner waiting for the crosswalk Annie loops her arms up around his neck and pulls him down into a messy kiss, their noses banging together before they get it right. He tastes like mocha and mint and she sighs out in satisfaction before pulling away, a rosy flush crawling up her cheeks.

 

Jeff almost reaches for her again, almost slides his palm against hers to thread their fingers together, but slips his hand into his pocket and offers her a soft smile instead, nodding for her to go ahead when the light turns green.

 

The next two weeks are scattered with similar moments and unspoken-of kisses that always seem to throw everything temporarily off kilter and yet at the same time feel startlingly normal. They start spending even more time together - meeting for lunch when they’re both free; hanging out after long work days at the dive bar where Kenny gives them half-price drinks because he’s taken a liking to Annie; going out jogging together on the weekends, both listening to their respective ipods and Annie somehow managing to keep pace with his long strides.

 

At the end of July Shirley invites everyone over for a game night at her house. They eat baked mac and cheese and brownies and work their way through a pile of party games that mostly dissolve into chaos and yelling when everyone’s competitive sides start to clash.

 

It’s late when they finish up a final game of Apples to Apples, the women winning handily despite accusations of cheating from the men and they all linger through their goodbyes on Shirley’s front lawn, no one in a hurry to get anywhere even thought it’s a weeknight – it’s warm and muggy and the laziness of summer has seeped into their veins like a drug.

 

Jeff and Annie finally slide into his car and Jeff watches in the review mirror as Britta’s taillights disappear down the street, then turns to smile at Annie.

 

She grins back and moves toward him, crawling over the center console into his lap, her knees pressed into the seat on either side of his thighs. His palms slide up her legs to her hips and he pulls her closer, dipping his head to mouth at her collarbone. Annie makes a soft noise in her throat and slides her fingers into his hair to tug him up, kissing him slow and deep. Her hands wander over his chest and shoulders and arms and when she nips his lower lip between her teeth he groans, wrapping his arms all the way around her.

 

Annie leans back as he starts trailing his lips back down the side of her neck, nosing aside the strap to her tank top, but she leans too far into the steering wheel, accidentally pressing against the horn, and the loud bleeting jars them back to reality.

 

They freeze and then Annie gasps and scrambles off him and back into her seat, ducking low. Jeff slouches down as much as possible and watches Shirley’s house with bated breath. The lights are on in the living room but the curtains over the large bay window remain closed. After a moment they both dissolve into nervous laughter, relieved and relaxing into their seats. Jeff throws the car into drive and Annie proceeds to tease him the entire way home about how bad he is at party games.

 

~*~*~

 

The next morning Jeff drags himself out of bed with bleary eyes, yawning loudly and stooping to pick his t-shirt off the floor, pulling it on over his head as he opens the door to the living room.

 

He knows immediately that something’s wrong.

 

The smell of freshly brewed coffee that normally greets him is noticeably absent and Annie’s blankets are still strewn across the couch and draped to the floor instead of neatly folded in the corner where she usually leaves them.

 

“Annie?”

 

There’s a pause and then her voice answers meekly from the bathroom. The door is slightly ajar and he pushes it all the way open to find her curled up on the floor in front of the toilet in the fetal position, still in her pajamas. She has her cheek pressed to the cool tile, her hair hanging tangled around her face.

 

Out of reflex Jeff takes a step backward and holds his hand out in front of him. “Woah. Are you okay?”

 

Annie whimpers in response and turns her head slightly to look at him. Her skin is pale and her eyes are red-rimmed as if she’s been crying. “I’m sick.”

 

“Clearly. Is it something you ate?” His eyes widen. “Do you think it was Shirley’s macaroni?”

 

“Ugghhhhhh. Please don’t talk about it.” Annie screws her eyes shut, her lips pressing into a line as she shakes her head, but then suddenly lurches back up over the toilet, retching.

 

Jeff gags, closing his eyes and moving away blindly. “Oh god. Gross.” He heads into the kitchen, shuddering, and quickly tears open the fridge, finding some fruit and soymilk that he dumps into the blender with a scoop of protein powder. The blades whirl to life, drowning out the sound of Annie re-enacting the Exorcist from the bathroom.

 

A minute later when he figures it’s safe he switches the blender off. The noises from the bathroom have ceased but Jeff stares at the protein shake he’s just made, scrunches his face up in disgust, and then quickly dumps it down the sink. He spends as long as possible cleaning the blender, wiping down the counter and putting on a pot of coffee before tentatively heading toward the bathroom.

 

“Annie? You alive?”

 

She’s lying on the floor again, sniffling. There’s a wadded up Kleenex in her hand that she wipes her nose with. “I hate being sick.”

 

“Pretty sure that’s a universal feeling, babe.” He grabs her toothbrush from the cup by the sink and runs it under the water before squeezing some toothpaste on it and handing it to her.

 

“Thanks.” Annie sits up slowly, leaning back against the bathtub and taking a couple deep breaths before she starts half-heartedly brushing her teeth with her eyes closed.

 

Jeff disappears again for a few minutes, going to his room to make his bed and pick up some dirty clothes from the floor, waiting for her to vacate the bathroom. When it gets to the point where he’s going to be late for work if he doesn’t get in the shower soon he returns to find her sitting in the same spot, the hand holding her toothbrush draped limply toward the ground.

 

“You good?”

 

“I’m trying to decide if I need to throw up again.”

 

Jeff looks up at the ceiling, grimacing. “Well don’t.”

 

“I don’t want to,” she whimpers and then sniffles again, her bottom lip quivering.

 

Jeff watches her and lets out a loud sigh. “Okay. C’mon.” He bends down, sliding one arm under her knees and one arm behind her back, and scoops her up with only a slight groan at the effort. She shivers at his touch but she’s warm in his arms and as she turns her face into his chest he can practically feel the fever radiating off her.

 

“Jesus, Annie. You’re burning up.”

 

“What are you doing?” she murmurs as he carries her to his bedroom and manages to shift her to one arm and pull back the comforter before lowering her to the mattress.

 

“Well you’re kind of pathetic right now. I’m taking pity on you. Don’t question it.”

 

Annie shivers again, turning onto her side and burying her face into his pillow as Jeff covers her with the comforter. He winces and looks around the room, leaves and quickly returns with the wastebasket from the bathroom, setting it next to the bed. “But you’re buying me new sheets if you throw up on them.”

 

“M’kay.”

 

Jeff quickly showers and gets dressed in the bathroom and by the time he’s ready Annie’s asleep. He watches her for a moment, reaching down to brush the hair back from her forehead, resting the backs of his fingers there and frowning. Before he leaves he grabs a glass of water, a bottle of aspirin and a washcloth that he runs under cold water and sets it all on the nightstand next to her.

 

As he walks out the door he pulls out his phone and scrolls through his address book to Shirley’s number. She answers after the third ring with a cheery, “Helloooo.”

 

“Hey, I need you to do me a huge favor.”

 

~*~*~

 

There’s a loud knock on the door around noon. Annie’s slowly walking back from the bathroom, her head pounding after having just thrown up again and she groans and considers ignoring it until the person on the other side of the door calls out, “Anniiieee?” and a key turns in the lock.

 

Annie frowns and shuffles over as the door swings open. “Shirley?”

 

“Oh!” Shirley gasps in surprise to see her standing there, then takes a good look at her and sighs, “Oh, pumpkin.”

 

“I’m sick,” Annie blurts out, surprised by the well of emotion in her chest at the mothering tone in Shirley’s voice.

 

“I know. I know.” Despite the large canvas bag looped over her shoulder, Shirley reaches her arms around the younger woman, bringing her in for a tight hug and Annie sinks into it gratefully, trying to hold back tears.

 

“Well, you definitely have a fever.” Shirley pulls back and cups Annie’s cheeks in her hands and then smoothes back the hair from her forehead. “But it doesn’t seem to be too high.” She leaves Annie resting against the armrest of the couch and bustles into the kitchen to drop the bag on the counter.

 

“I brought you some soda and crackers to settle your stomach. And some homemade soup for when you’re up to it.” Shirley pulls a glass from the drain board and uncaps the bottle of soda.

 

Annie nods weakly as she gets up and heads back toward Jeff’s room. “Thanks Shirley.” She’s just crawling back under the comforter when Shirley walks in, a glass of clear soda in one hand. Her eyes narrow as she looks around at the minimal furnishings.

 

“I knew it. I knew it. That boy seduced you into his bed, didn’t he?” Her soothing tone is suddenly replaced by a harsher accusation.

 

“What? No. He’s just letting me sleep here while I’m sick.” Annie curls onto her side and closes her eyes, hoping that settles the matter.

 

“Well, that’s nice of him, I suppose. But I’ve read my fair share of romance novels. I know what happens next.”

 

Annie groans into the pillow, “Do we have to do this now? I’m too sick to be interrogated. Besides…” She trails off and opens her eyes, then shakes her head and slowly turns onto her other side, “You guys have to stop assuming the worst.”

 

Shirley sighs and sets the glass down as she perches at the edge of the bed and rests her hand on Annie’s shoulder. “We worry about you. Both of you.”

 

“Well. Don’t.” Annie’s tone is clipped, her body tense under Shirley’s touch. She sighs loudly and flops onto her back. “I’m sorry.”

 

Shirley frowns and presses the back of her hand to Annie’s forehead. “I know.” She spies the washcloth lying on the nightstand and picks it up to take to the bathroom to run cold water over it. As she stands there in front of the sink she notices a bright orange post-it note pressed to the toilet tank next to the handle that reads, “Feel better, Pukey” in Jeff’s messy scrawl. Shirley raises an eyebrow and hums in thought.

~*~*~

 

Jeff barely eats anything all day, his stomach queasy and unsettled, but he manages to convince himself that it’s all in his head, that he’s somehow been lured into feeling like this by the power of suggestion. At around three o’clock though he’s half falling asleep over a pile of depositions, his skin is tender to the touch, his joints achy and he has to admit that he’s really sick.

 

He doesn’t even bother saying goodbye to anyone before he leaves and halfway home he has to stop and throw up by the side of the road.

 

When he finally gets back to the apartment he throws his jacket on the couch and kicks off his shoes as he makes his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He peers blearily into the mirror and groans at his pale, haggard face, then nearly gets sick again as the mint of the toothpaste makes the corners of his jaw twinge.

 

Annie is asleep curled up on her side, facing away from the door and Jeff drags himself around to the other side of the bed, dropping his watch on the dresser with a thunk as he passes. She startles awake at the noise, jerking and blinking up at him. “Jeff?”

 

“No. It’s Garret. Who the fuck else would it be,” he snipes as he undoes his belt and starts yanking his shirt free from his pants.

 

“What are you doing?” Annie frowns at his tone but then he pushes down his pants and kicks them free and she yelps, throwing an arm over her face.

 

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”

 

“Changing.”

 

“But I can see your--” she waves her hand toward him and he looks down, realizing that he had stripped his underwear off along with his pants without even thinking.

 

“Sometimes I sleep naked,” he shrugs and pulls his briefs back up.

 

“Well you can’t when I’m in your bed.”

 

In spite of the fact that his stomach is currently attempting to destroy itself from the inside out Jeff smiles and finishes unbuttoning his shirt, throwing it in the general direction of the hamper as he crawls into bed next to her. “You already have a lot of rules about my bed.”

 

“No. I have rules about who sleeps naked with me.” Annie still has her arm up over her face and Jeff rolls his eyes. “You can look now.”

 

She slowly peeks at him over the crook of her elbow.

 

“Looks like you have a little color back in your face,” he teases.

 

“Ugh.” Annie rolls over away from him.

 

“Oh calm down, it’s nothing you haven’t seen before.”

 

“What are you even doing here?” she asks, deliberately changing the subject.

 

“I’m sick and it’s all your fault.” Jeff lies on his back and closes his eyes, hoping to quell the rising nausea.

 

“How is it my fault?”

 

“You were sick first.”

 

“That’s not how it works.” 

 

“Oh? And where did you learn that? That doctor’s office where you work and probably contracted this Ebola virus?”

 

Annie cranes her head back to look at him. “We don’t have Ebola, Jeff. Besides, you probably got it from your office. You can’t tell me that place isn’t infested with something.”

“Yeah, but vomiting isn’t a symptom of moral depravity. Or herpes…” He squeezes his eyes shuts and lets out a small groan.

 

“Ew.” After a pause Annie turn onto her back to face him. “Really?”

 

“Derek Shepersky. You met him at the party.”

 

“That short guy with the bald spot?”

 

But Jeff doesn’t answer. He lurches up suddenly, swings his legs over the side of the bed and sits still there for a moment to get his bearings before jumping up and running out of the room. The bathroom door slams shut behind him a second later.

 

Annie makes a face and pulls her pillow over her head.

 

~*~*~

 

A few hours later as the sun is setting and the faint light coming in through the slats of the blinds grows dim and throws the entire room into shadow Jeff starts to toss and turn, mumbling curses under his breath and tugging the comforter away from Annie.

 

“Can you stop?” She yanks on the edge of the blanket to try and cover herself back up but he just pulls it back, shrugging it up over his shoulders.

 

“It’s fucking cold.”

 

“You have the chills. Just take a deep breath and try to sleep. You’ll feel better in the morning.” Annie continues the tug-of-war with the comforter, fisting her hands in the material but only succeeding in losing more of it as he redoubles his grip.

 

“I think I’m dying.”

 

Annie sighs and finally lets go to sit up on her elbows. She inhales through her nose as the suddenly movement sends a throbbing pain straight through her temples, and holds still until the headache abates and she can open her eyes to squint down at him.

 

“You act like you’ve never been sick before.”

 

“I take care of my body, Annie. And my body rewards me in return. Usually.” There’s a quiver in his voice and his lips are practically chattering as he speaks. He pulls the comforter up higher with both fists under his chin.

 

The corners of Annie’s mouth twitch as she watches him before she slowly gets out of bed and pads out to the living room to grab her pile of blankets from the couch. She keeps one for herself and covers Jeff with the rest until he’s cocooned in warmth.

 

He burrows deeper until all she can see is the top of his head and his hair sticking out every which way, then sighs out a muffled “thanks.”

 

Annie wraps the fleece blanket around herself tightly in case he gets any grand ideas about trying to steal it while she sleeps.

 

~*~*~

 

“Ugghhhhhhhh.”

 

“Now what?”

 

“It’s too hot in here. I’m sweating.”

 

Annie struggles to open her eyes, feeling like she’s wading through a thick slog. The entire room is dark; she has no idea what time it is but it would take too much effort to roll over and look at the clock. Next to her Jeff has thrown off every single one of his blankets and is now lying sprawled out on his back in only his briefs.

 

“Your fever is probably breaking. Drink some water,” she murmurs. A moment later she hears him turning onto his side. His hand brushes against her forehead.

 

“How are you feeling?”

 

“Hmm. I don’t know.”

 

Jeff runs his fingers down her temple and behind her ear, then presses his thumb into a spot at the nape of her neck that makes her moan and turn her face into her pillow.

 

“Oh god. I’ll give you a million dollars if you never stop doing that.”

 

He chuckles lightly under his breath and keeps up the steady circling pressure until she finally manages to drift back off into the first restful sleep she’s had all day.

 

~*~*~

 

Annie wakes up again to the sound of the alarm on her phone chirping merrily from the nightstand. She quickly shuts it off and lies back for a moment, trying to judge how she feels. The aches and pains are gone and she doesn’t have a fever, but her stomach still feels unsettled and there’s a dull throbbing in her head.

 

“I’m calling in sick,” Jeff says groggily into his pillow. He’s on his side facing away from her. “Fuck it,” he adds. Annie’s eyes trace the curve and muscles of his back down to where the sheet is slung over his waist. She nods and sends a quick text to her boss before rolling back over and closing her eyes.

 

For the next hour or so she drifts in and out of sleep, waking up whenever Jeff moves. He gets up at one point and comes back with a new glass of water for her and in the haze of sleep she’s not sure if she imagines the way he softly traces his fingers down her arm when he stops next to the bed to put the glass on the nightstand.

 

When Annie gets up around ten to take a shower she feels measurably better and stands under the soothing spray of hot water with her eyes closed, letting her entire body relax until she nearly falls back to sleep. The entire room is filled with a warm stream when she finally turns the water off and it leaves her feeling a little lightheaded and overly flushed.

 

After quickly running a comb through her tangled wet hair and pulling on a new pair of pajamas she heads back to Jeff’s room where he’s pulled a t-shirt on and is half sitting up in bed, propped up on a pillow, remote control in hand as he surfs through channels on the flat screen above his dresser.

 

“Good shower?”

 

“I think I stood up for too long,” Annie answers weakly as she slides back into bed and pulls the covers over her legs. She leans back against the headboard and picks up the water glass from the nightstand to press against her forehead. It’s cool to the touch and she shivers, goose bumps breaking out all up and down her arms.

 

“Need anything?” Jeff continues to channel surf, scrolling quickly past The View with an exaggerated eye roll.

 

“No. I just want to lay here.” She sets the glass down and reaches up to pull her hair into a messy bun before sinking back into the pillow

 

“Anything you want to watch?”

 

“Hmm. No… Not that.” Annie scrunches her nose up when he stops and watches a few minutes of an episode of Maury about men who cheat on their wives with their mother’s in law. Jeff obliges and turns the channel just as one woman starts wailing on another.

 

“When I was younger I used to watch Matlock reruns whenever I stayed home sick. I don’t even think they run those anymore.”

 

“What’s--”

 

“Don’t.” He points the remote control at her and presses the mute button repeatedly. “Just don’t.”

 

Annie grins. “Sick days were the only days I was allowed to watch television. My favorite was Nickelodeon. I liked iCarly.” There’s a hint of laughter in her voice and Jeff shakes his head slowly.

 

“I thought I muted you.”

 

“Or the Disney Channel.”

 

Jeff turns toward her and raises an eyebrow. “High School Musical?”

 

She shrugs, “I thought Zac Efron was cute.”

 

“Get out of my bed.”

 

Annie only giggles and shoves against his hip lightly before curling back down on her side and focusing her attention on the rerun of Will & Grace that he’s finally settled on. A few minutes later she hears him mutter “rat faced kid” under his breath and she rolls her eyes and kicks him under the covers.

 

~*~*~

 

“This goes against everything I stand for.”

 

“You’re eating soup and crackers in bed. I’ve seen you do a lot worse.”

 

“Do you know how much these sheets cost me?

 

“I do actually. Because you won’t shut up about it. I’m concerned about this obsession you have, Jeff… JEFF. STOP. You’re gonna make me spill the soup all over your precious sheets if you keep doing that… SEE.”

 

“Don’t look smug.”

 

“I should Instagram this.”

 

“After I remake the bed I’m throwing your phone out the window.”

 

~*~*~

 

Jeff rolls over onto his back and flops his arm out to the side so that it falls against Annie’s hip. She’s sitting up against the headboard typing rapidly on the laptop resting over her crossed legs.

 

“How long was I sleeping?”

 

“A couple hours. You snore.”

 

“Only when I nap.” He clears his throat and rubs his hand over his eyes. “What are you doing?”

 

Annie looks down briefly at where his other hand is still resting against her hip, the backs of his fingers moving back and forth lightly over the bare skin where her camisole has ridden up.

“I’ve narrowed down grad schools. I just need to do a little more research.”

“But it’s sick day,” Jeff whines. He props himself up on his elbow and peers at the laptop screen where she has the home page for University of Washington minimized to one side, a word document with a pro con list on the other.

 

“So you’re really serious about moving?”

 

Annie shrugs, flushing as she minimizes the pro con list before Jeff can read what’s listed. “I didn’t get to go away to college. I want to… I don’t know, have an adventure.”

 

“Greendale isn’t adventure enough for you?”

 

She tilts her head at him as if to say “c’mon” and Jeff smirks and rests his forehead down against her arm, letting out a loud yawn. Annie reaches over and trails her fingers through his hair, scratching lightly. A slideshow of images from the UW campus plays on a loop on the screen in front of her and she closes her eyes as she tries to imagine walking around the large campus.

 

“Where’s the farthest you’ve ever traveled?” She asks quietly.

 

Jeff lifts his head and squints his eyes in thought. “I went to New York when I was your age. Hung out at Columbia for about a week.”

 

“You actually went?” Annie laughs.

 

“Verisimilitude. I figured it would be good to know the place in case someone ever started asking questions.”

 

“Like what the library looks like?”

 

“Or where to find the best hangover food.”

 

Annie bits her lip. “My parents and I used to travel all the time. Hawaii. Vancouver. Los Angeles. But then after the divorce my mom would just shuttle me off to my dad’s while she went on a trips with her friends… She went to London one summer without me. I’ve always wanted to go to London. I’ve never really been anywhere that mattered, you know?”

 

Jeff watches as she trails her fingers over the computer keys and taps her thumb absentmindedly over the space bar. “Okay. That’s it.” He reaches over and shuts the laptop. “The point of taking a sick day is to lay around being sick, not to obsess and catch up on research.”

 

“I’m not obsessing.” But she relinquishes the laptop, letting him pull it out of her lap and set it on the nightstand. “Besides, it’s your fault. You fell asleep and I was bored.”

 

“Well I’m awake now.” He turns the television back on, scrolls through a couple of channels and lands on an episode of Phineas and Ferb. Annie smirks.

 

“Shut up.”

 

~*~*~

 

Just past midnight there’s a sudden loud cracking bang that seems to vibrate the very walls of the apartment and Annie jerks awake and sits up with a gasp. A moment later a steady rain begins to patter at the window.

 

“It’s just thunder.” Jeff mumbles.

 

Annie presses her hand flat against her chest and takes a deep calming breath. “It startled me.” A flash of light illuminates the window and Annie counts slowly in her head, 1…2…3… before there’s another booming roll of thunder. “It’s close,” she whispers and eases back down under the covers.

 

Jeff shifts onto his back and curls an arm behind his head. “I hope you don’t expect me to sing.”

 

Annie frowns and lets out a short laugh, “What?”

 

“That song. From that movie. The one about whiskers on kittens and warm woolen mittens. Or whatever.”

 

Annie presses her lips together in amusement. “Or whatever? Don’t act like you don’t know the name of the movie.” He doesn’t answer and she curls onto her side to face him, “I always liked the part when Captain von Trapp and Maria danced for the first time.”

 

“You would.” Another streak of lightning temporarily illuminates his face and she can tell that he’s smiling. “My mom liked musicals, okay?”

 

Annie’s reply is drowned out by another wall-shaking bang. They listen as the thunder seems to reverberate endlessly off into the distance, finally fading until there’s only the sound of the pouring rain.

 

“I always liked them,” Jeff says after a moment.

 

“Musicals?”

 

“Lightning storms.”

 

Annie shrugs, “They’re not horrible.”

 

Jeff is quiet, frowning up at the ceiling. “My dad liked them.” His words are slow and measured. Annie’s lips part slightly but she doesn’t say anything.

 

“When I was little he would put me in the car and we’d just drive out in the direction of the storm. Trying to find the best view… One time we were driving down an old abandoned road and this oak tree about ten feet away got struck. Just exploded right there in front of us. And I was terrified we were going to hit too. I begged him to take me home.”

 

The words seem to stick in his throat and he swallows heavily. “But he told me that we were fine because a car is one of the safest places to be during a lightning storm. And that nothing bad was going to happen. So I… felt safe.”

 

Annie keeps her eyes on his silhouette, her ribcage practically shuddering at the effort it takes to tamp down the swell of emotion.

 

Jeff huffs out a dry laugh. “You know the worst part? After all the crap he put us through later that’s still the first memory that pops into my head when I think about him.” He turns his head to look at her, smiling faintly. “Stupid, right?”

 

“No,” Annie answers immediately. She reaches over and curls her hand around his upper arm. He’s tense and she rubs her thumb back and forth over the fabric of his shirt for a minute or two in silence. Outside the rain seems to let up slightly and each rumble of thunder sounds further and further off in the distance. “I thought sick days weren’t for obsessing,” she finally says quietly.

 

Jeff laughs then, a real laugh that shakes his entire body. He turns onto his side and grabs her hand before she can pull it away, runs his fingers over her knuckles and smiles through the darkness. “C’mere.” He slides his hand over her arm and then down to her hip to tug her closer.

 

Annie shuffles across the bed until she’s curled up against him, her forehead pressed against his chest. He wraps his arms around her and she sinks into him with a slow exhale.

 

Neither of them says anything more.

 

~*~*~

 

Daylight pours in through the slats in the blinds, a crisp post-storm brightness that is accompanied by the cheeping and chirping of birds in the tree just outside the window. Annie stirs and stretches herself out with a low groan in her throat, her arms high above her head. Her legs slide over the luxuriously soft sheets and she sinks into the mattress with something like a blissful smile on her face.

 

Next to her Jeff is sound asleep on his stomach with one arm curled under his pillow and the usual lines in his face around his brow and eyes are relaxed and smooth as he breathes evenly in and out with soft little snores. Annie blinks at him, yawning as she rolls to her side and presses a kiss to his shoulder, then nuzzles her nose there. She slides a hand over his back, fingers tracing along the ridges of his spine. Jeff hums and the corner of his lip twitches up slightly as he shifts under her touch.

 

“Morning,” he rasps out without opening his eyes and Annie freezes, his voice jolting at something deep in her chest. She pulls away and stares at him with wide eyes, her skin awash in the cold heat of realization. Jeff makes another low noise in his throat and slides his hand across the sheet toward her as if he’s searching her out, but Annie inches away with as little movement as possible and slips out from under the covers.

 

She tiptoes out of the room without looking back, her fists clenched tightly, nails digging into her palms as if that’s going to somehow dam up the rising panic.

 

Once she’s standing in the kitchen she takes a deep steadying breath, eyes skittering around, unsure of what she’s even supposed to do now. There’s a small pile of dirty dishes next to the sink, left overnight so that the dregs of soup have congealed into a sticky mess at the bottom of their bowls and Annie shakes out her hands and goes about filling the sink with hot soapy water.

 

“Hey.”

 

She jumps and a bowl slips out of her hand and back into the water with a splash as Jeff walks in wearing sweats, scratching the back of his head and yawning widely. He gives her an amused glance as he opens the fridge door and surveys the contents.

 

“You want an omelet?”

 

“Um. Sure. Yeah.” She goes about needlessly scrubbing one of the bowls as Jeff pulls out a carton of eggs. He slides behind her as he goes to grab a whisk from the drawer, brushing his hand against her low back as he passes. Annie clenches a hand to the edge of the sink and wills herself to breathe.

 

When she’s thoroughly washed all the dishes she wipes her hands on a dishtowel and quietly walks around to sit at one of the bar stools and watch as he chops up olives and green peppers and mushrooms to throw into the omelet. He talks while he works, something about how he needs to eat more vegetables to boost his immune system because he never wants to relive the illness from the last few days. Annie answers with a few short hums and nods as her fingers press anxiously into the countertop; she has no idea what to actually say to him.

 

And then he’s sliding a plate of perfectly fluffy golden omelet in front of her. “Milady.”

 

She stares at it blankly. A choked laugh tears its way out of her throat as she starts to shake her head. “I can’t do this.”

 

“What?” Jeff looks from her to the omelet, his brow furrowed.

 

“I can’t.” Annie slides off the stool and walks sort of blindly over to where her things are arranged in the corner of the living room.

 

“Are you going to be sick again?”

 

“No.” She stares for a second and then grabs a purple duffel bag and starts haphazardly stuffing it with clothes. “I have to go.”

 

Jeff walks around the counter looking perplexed. “Okay, what’s happening right now? Did I do something? Because--”

 

Annie stops, a handful of camisoles clutched in her hand, and spins around to face him. “You’re you,” she practically yells.

 

He rears back, startled, his eyes widening and Annie only feel more breathless as she shakes her head and resumes packing. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I don’t know why I thought I could live here. I’m so stupid. We’re so stupid.”

 

“Wow. I’m sorry it was so terrible.”

 

Annie yanks the zipper closed on the bag and holds the heels of her hands to her eyes. “No. God, Jeff, what is wrong with… It wasn’t terrible. It was the opposite of terrible.”

 

“Okay,” he starts slowly, wetting his lips as he searches her face with soft eyes. “So what’s--”

 

“I’M IN LOVE WITH YOU.”

 

She freezes.

 

Jeff’s mouth drops open. 

 

“Oh god,” she whispers. “Oh god. Oh god. Oh god.”

 

Panicked and still muttering under her breath she grabs the duffel bag off the couch and practically tears her way out of the apartment, the door shutting with a disproportionately quiet click behind her. After a moment Jeff sinks back onto Annie’s abandoned stool, his palms pressed to his thighs as he stares blankly at the two plates of uneaten omelet growing cold on the counter.


	9. Chapter 9

Annie grips the steering wheel with both hands and stares wide-eyed through the windshield. Her bag sits next to her on the passenger seat where she’d thrown it in her fumbled rush to start the car and get out of the parking lot as fast as possible, eyes on the rearview mirror. She’d driven a block away before pulling over to the side of the road, hands shaking and blood rushing in her ears.

I’m in love with you.

There’s a fluttering in her stomach that works its way up into her throat and catches, making her swallow hard and blink back the tears that spring up in the corners of her eyes. She hunches forward, resting her head against the top of the steering wheel, and lets out a whimpering groan.

Her own words replay on an endless loop in her head, getting louder and more hysterical until she visualizes herself practically screaming the words in Jeff’s face and then running for the door like a crazy person. Annie lets out a loud, tense laugh that turns into a hiccup as she lifts her head and looks out over the street in front of her. An older couple in tracksuits walks by with two dogs on leashes, the woman glancing briefly into the car as they pass, and Annie’s eyes follow their movement until they round the corner out of sight.

I’m in love with-

“Stop it,” she whispers and takes a few long deep breaths through her nose, finally nodding firmly and turning the key in the ignition. She checks the street and quickly flips a u-turn, headed back in the direction of Jeff’s apartment building. But as she approaches the turn-in a cold heat washes over her and she continues driving past, muttering curses under her breath. Now a block in the other direction she pulls over again and immediately reaches for her bag to grab her phone.

She freezes with her hand on the zipper, the image of her phone on the nightstand flashing through her head. On Jeff’s nightstand. Next to his bed. Where she spent the last two nights.

Her laugh is a little more manic - high in her throat - this time and she tips her head back and squeezes her eyes closed. She can’t go back. At least not right now. Not yet. But there’s no one to call, nowhere to go and the panic that seizes in her chest is like that of a little kid lost in a mall and crying searching for her mom. She’s less than a mile from the place she’s called home all summer, in the city she’s lived in her entire life and she’s never felt so lost.

She rolls her eyes and mentally gives herself a shake.

“C’mon, Annie,” she mutters and slowly begins cataloging her options.

Ten minutes later she’s pulling up to a small townhouse with brown trim and shutters and a walkway leading up to the front stoop lined by neatly groomed primroses. The mailbox at the curb says “Nadir” in white block lettering.

Abed’s dad opens the door, his eyebrows rising slowly as he takes in Annie’s bright pink pajama pants and camisole, the bag slung over her shoulder.

“Annie.”

“Hi, Mr. Nadir,” she chirps. “Is Abed home?” She gives him a sunny smile, hoping to win him over but he just lets out a long-suffering sigh and turns away.

“Abed. One of your friends from school is here.” He doesn’t invite her in as he disappears into the house and Annie waits, glancing back toward her car and hiking the bag up higher on her shoulder, unsure if she was supposed to follow him.

“Did you and Jeff have a fight?”

She twists back around, startled. Abed is standing in the doorway with a bowl of cereal in one hand. He takes a bite, brow furrowed slightly and Annie flushes at the hawk-like way he observes her.

“No. What? No.” Her laugh is forced. “Why would you think that?”

He points the spoon at her bag, “You look like you moved out.”

“No,” Annie sighs. “What are you doing today?”

“Troy’s coming home this weekend. I’m driving down to pick him up after breakfast.”

He takes another bite, chewing slowly. Annie knows that Abed’s idea of breakfast is however long it takes to work his way through about half a box of cereal and whatever block of cartoons is currently airing on the Disney Channel.

“Oh. Can I come?”

“Sure. But--”

“Abed.” Annie holds up her hand. “This one of those times where it’s better not to ask questions.”

Abed frowns. “But you know I don’t like not understanding what’s going on.”

Annie’s features soften and she lets out a long sigh as she shifts and looks down at her feet. “I just needed some space.”

There’s a long pause. “Are you…?”

She looks up and meets his eyes, widening hers plaintively. Abed blinks.

“Cool. Cool cool cool.” He opens the door further. “Do you want breakfast?”

Her entire body tenses in an effort to fight back the pressure behind her eyes. “No. I’m not really hungry.”

 

~*~*~

 

They’re on the road, headed south in Abed’s dad’s Corolla, by ten-thirty. They don’t say much; Abed hums along to his favorite smooth jazz station, bobbing his head and shoulders ever so slightly to the beat, and Annie sits with her legs pulled up to her chest, arms wrapped around them and hands clasped. Every so often her fingers twitch and she moves as if to reach for her phone before remembering where it is and slouching with a silent sigh back into her seat.

She watches the dotted yellow line up the center of the highway whir by in a hypnotic blur and it doesn’t take long before her eyelids start to go heavy. The soothing melody of saxophone music straining in over the radio fades into the background as her entire body relaxes into a light doze, her mind a jumble of distorted half-dreams.

After what could either be a moment or an hour her head lilts to the side, smacking into the window and she jerks back awake, blinking rapidly. Abed looks over at her but she gives him a closed-mouth smile and leans her head, gently this time, back against the warm thick glass.

She squeezes her eyes closed again and tucks her legs tighter into her chest. After being pushed along by a nervous momentum all morning there’s nothing left to do now but sit and think and let the car carry her along and all she can see is Jeff’s face – a mix of stunned and confused as she ran out the door.

Annie wonders if he’s still at the apartment and there’s a regretful twinge in her chest at the knowledge that she’s basically ruined their day. He had been so perfectly content to make her breakfast and stand in the kitchen looking sleep-disheveled in a faded gray t-shirt and his hair flat and lying in strange directions and she had gone and unraveled the entire thing.

As much as he likes to put up a show of indifference, she knows that it doesn’t take a lot to screw with Jeff Winger’s head and she wants to apologize, tell him she’s sorry for leaving, sorry for saying out loud the thing that had been scratching and tearing its way out of her since she woke up.

But she’s in love with him. It’s a feeling that buzzes and nips at her fingers and toes and makes her feel weightless like she’s filled up entirely with air. She wants to laugh and run around in circles and burst into tears all at the same time and she can’t even figure out when that happened. At the beginning of summer she had come to him and asked to stay, rolled her eyes and assured him that romantic intentions were the furthest from her mind and she had believed it because it had been true.

But now with this overwhelming new zip of realization coursing through her veins she can’t recall any one moment where everything changed – she’s been falling all summer, maybe even longer than that and it’s as if she’s lost hold of the string of a balloon and claws desperately at thin air as it bobs and floats higher into the sky.

The past few weeks and months with Jeff, all the kisses and stray touches and the time spent just being with him, had coalesced into an easy contentedness – she can’t even remember the last time she went looking for an apartment - and she hadn’t really stopped to pay it any attention, save for the random awkward moment that made her pause and then quickly brush aside for the sake of their living situation, friendship, relationship - this thing between them that’s she’s never fully understood.

They are friends. And they kiss on occasion. And they live together. And are attracted to each other and sometimes act on that attraction. They watch bad television together and share ice cream and actually kiss a lot more than occasionally. They tell each other those stupid details that seem so inconsequential – he hates pickles, he was once suspended for three days in high school for going to class drunk, he cried the day he was disbarred - but really fill in and color the complete picture of who a person is and the certainty of him, of how well she knows him, makes her bite her lip and curl her toes into her flip flops.

How could she not have seen what was happening?

On Monday they had met for lunch at a little vegan restaurant a few miles away from his office. It was nicer than where they usually ate but he had shrugged and said he was paying and she hadn’t really bothered arguing. They placed their order and Annie was in the middle of telling him about a patient who had been driving the office staff crazy when Jeff leaned over, cupped her cheek in his hand and fit his mouth to hers. It caught her off guard and she had inhaled sharply before relaxing into him.

He had pressed one last lingering kiss to the corner of her mouth, nudging his nose over hers before pulling back. The waiter came back then with their drinks and Annie had blushed, a fire spanning out under her skin, watching out of the corner of her eye the tiny smile on Jeff’s lips as he carefully squeezed a slice of lemon into his iced water.

The sense memory of his kiss, his hand warm on her cheek sends a shiver up her spine that makes her sit up straighter. Annie clenches her fists, nails digging into the palms of her hands, a scream bubbling up in her chest. She keeps her eyes squeezed shut, breathing in deeply through her nose, and hopes that Abed doesn’t notice her distress.

Two years ago she had spent an entire summer building up the memory of a kiss and all the meaning behind it and the passion with which he had hauled her into his arms, until no reality ever could have matched the fantasy, only to be told that what it meant was nothing - chemicals, hormones, generic lust.

So she had stopped letting herself read into things – like when he’d find her eyes first with his at the study table, when he’d catch up with her in the hallway and slip easily into conversation as if they had been chatting for hours, when he’d text her randomly on a weekend to ask a homework question and then tease her about how quickly she had responded with the answer – until he had reached for her in bed this morning, a soft smile playing at the corner of his mouth, the sheets rustling with their movement, his skin warm from sleep and the sunshine slanting in through the blinds and…

…crap. She opens her eyes and squints at the road ahead. She feels disoriented, lost in Jeff and just like that she’s one step away from drawing his name surrounded by hearts in her diary. She drops her legs off the seat, stretching her arms out in front of her with a yawn.

“So.”

Abed startles and looks at her with wide eyes and Annie realizes she’d practically barked the word at him. She clears her throat and tries to steady her nerves. “Have you heard any new spoilers about Inspector Spacetime?” she starts again, softer this time.

His face lights up and he launches into news from the recent Comi-Con where the new assistant had been introduced. Annie listens with interest, nodding along and forcing all thoughts of Jeff to the back of her mind.

 

~*~*~

With only one stop for coffee and a bathroom break they make it to Rotin, New Mexico by three o’clock. Annie frowns as they turn into the bus station and looks to Abed in question.

“Troy told his mom he was taking the bus home. She doesn’t approve of road trips.”

Annie purses her lips as her eyes trace over his impassive face. “Parents are weird,” she sighs. He shrugs and doesn’t say anything but nods his head down once in agreement.

They get out of the car and are immediately greeted by a shout of, “Abed!” Annie shades her eyes as she looks over the car at a figure headed full tilt in their direction, a duffel bag slung across his chest and knocking against his thigh as he runs.

“Troy!” Abed manages to get out before Troy reaches him and without slowing throws his arms around him, propelling them both back slightly into the car.

When they pull back Troy has an irrepressible toothy smile spread from ear to ear. “I missed you, buddy.” He pulls the duffel bag off over his head and smacks his chest with the palm of his hand as he and Abed do their handshake twice in quick succession.

Annie stands on the other side of the car, watching in amusement and trying to ignore the inexplicable pang in her chest when Troy pulls Abed back in for another hug, resting his head on his shoulder. Abed stands still, not reciprocating at first, until the faintest of smiles flickers at his lips and he bends his arms up and pats Troy on the back.

“I missed you too.”

~*~*~

Abed and Troy decide they want to take the long meandering way home and stop at every truck stop, landmark and viewpoint that shows up on the map from New Mexico to Greendale. There’s a familiar gleam in Abed’s eye and Annie feels a nervous jittering that he’s going to find some way to stage a flat tire or the car getting stolen or some mishap that ends in them walking stranded down the road and thumbing rides from tattooed truckers with hook hands.

“We are going to get home by Monday, right?” she asks from the backseat, leaning forward with her hands on each of their headrests.

“That’s the plan,” Abed says in a dreamy way that is not at all reassuring.

Annie sighs. “As long as you realize that you’re not John Candy. And he’s not Steve Martin.” She hooks her thumb at Troy. “And that I do need to go back to work eventually.”

Troy turns to look at her incredulously. “Uh, clearly not.” He lets out dry laugh. “I’m John Candy. He’s Steve Martin. Have you seen Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Annie?” He and Abed both shake their heads, chucking in amusement at her utter wrongness and she sinks back into her seat, eyebrows knit together, arms folded over her chest in a huff.

~*~*~

Two hours later they stop at a quiet rest stop to stretch their legs and Abed and Troy make a beeline for the vending machines while Annie settles at a picnic bench and rests her chin in the palm of her hand, staring out over the expanse of grass toward the parking lot where an older woman in faded jeans and t-shirt stands alone near a beat up old Dodge, puffing on a cigarette. Annie watches her as she looks around, shoulders drooping back in a sigh, and then checks her watch. She takes one last drag and flicks the cigarette into the dirt, then gets into her car and pulls away, back towards the highway.

“I thought you might be hungry.”

Annie startles as Troy sets a bag of chips and a can of soda in front of her and then drops down on the other side of the bench.

“Fritos are your favorite, right?” He’s rooting through his own bag of chips, trying to pick out the ones with the most cheese powder, and not looking up at her as she blinks rapidly and fingers the squared edge of the bag. “So how was your summer?” Satisfied with his choice he pops a chip in his mouth and finally looks up at her, freezing mid bite at the look on her face. “Annie?”

Her lips purse together, quivering slightly. “Good,” she manages to choke out before her entire body seems to shudder with a sob and she covers her face as tears pool in the corners of her eyes.

“Annie?” he says again, voice higher pitched. ‘What’s wrong?”

“I just.” She tries to choke back another sob but now that it’s started the well of emotion can’t be tamped back and tears begin to slip down her cheeks. “I had a really good summer,” she cries loudly and drops her head into the crook of her elbow, shoulders shaking.

Troy’s eyes widen all the way and then flicker up toward the Welcome Center where Abed had gone to explore, and then around the rest of the park before coming back to rest on Annie.

“Don’t be sad,” he sniffles.

“I’m not!” Her words are muffled and wet.

“I don’t understand!”

Annie peeks up at him, wiping her cheek along her arm.

“Troy! Why are you crying?”

“I don’t know! You started it!” He presses his fist to his mouth. “With your weird emotions. Who cries when they’re not sad?!”

“Lots of people!”

“Well they shouldn’t!”

Neither of them notices Abed sidle up to the table with a bag of Chex Mix in his hand. He stares at them, eyes volleying back and forth as they yell through messy tears.

“Okay. I missed something.”

~*~*~

She pulls herself together, a few last dry sobs shuddering in her chest as she wipes her eyes and it’s probably a good thing that she hadn’t put any make-up on earlier. Troy watches her, wary and leaned back in his seat as if trying to stay far away as possible from her contagious emotions while still being a good friend.

“I’m okay,” she murmurs.

He relaxes slightly, still frowning. “Promise?”

His concern makes her want to burst into tears all over again but she nods and smiles as Abed returns with a handful of toilet paper that Annie accepts gratefully and uses to blow her nose. She pauses though when he slides a bar of chocolate from the vending machine in front of her and looks up at him through her eyelashes.

“I’m not charting you anymore. I just know you like chocolate.”

Annie presses her lips together and nods quickly. She smoothes her finger along the silver foil wrapper and it’s a moment before she can talk again. “Thank you.”

Her tears seem to have hit a momentary pause button on the road trip and none of them has any real inclination to get back in the car but the sun beats down hot and severe from a blue cloudless sky so they move under the cooling shade of a large Sycamore tree for relief, sitting cross-legged on the grass and fanning themselves with maps from the car.

Abed and Troy chatter on but Annie barely listens, her fingers pulling absentmindedly at blades of grass and twisting them together in braided circles as she stares off into space for so long that her vision goes blurry and she has to blink rapidly to clear it. Her entire body feels drained and heavy from crying so hard and all she wants to do is curl up with her eyes closed and sleep for the rest of the day.

Preferably snuggled deep into a particular set of soft Egyptian cotton sheets.

Annie has to hold back a tiny giggle at that and she presses her fingers to her lips and glances sideways at Troy and Abed. The last thing she needs is for them to see her sitting here laughing silently to herself – she’s pretty sure they already think she’s nuts. She contemplates telling them, telling them everything, because she needs to talk and explain this to someone and isn’t she supposed to have a girlfriend she can go to? Someone to dissect every detail with over wine and junk food, to encourage her and tell her what it means and not judge her or stare at her like she’s an insect in a zoo? She can’t go to Britta or Shirley for the obvious reasons and other than them… she really has a sad lack of female presence in her life.

“Here.” Troy carefully plucks out a long-stemmed weed from where it’s growing under the grass, brushes the dirt off it and drapes it over Annie’s knee. She looks down at the growing wreath in her hand and then over at Troy. He gives her a small smile and she beams at him and picks up the weed to twist it into the wreath.

“So I was watching this movie the other day,” she starts suddenly.

Abed and Troy stop mid-conversation, heads swiveling toward her in perfect synchronization.

“What movie?” Abed asks.

“Um. I don’t remember the title. But it was about this guy and this girl and--”

“When Harry Met Sally.”

“Ugh.”

“No… what?” Annie answers Abed and furrows her brow at the look of disgust on Troy’s face.

He sighs heavily. “I thought you were going to tell us about an awesome movie. Like Kickpuncher. Or the Matrix. But it’s one of those dumb girly movies you like, isn’t it?” His voice gets whinier. “Was Katherine Heigl in it?”

Abed nods and points his finger at Troy in agreement.

“Noooo.” Annie purses her lips as she thinks about it. Her eyes brighten. “They were on a spaceship.”

Abed’s eyes narrow. “Alien?”

“Nice.”

“No. I--”

“Wall-E?”

“No.”

“Galaxy Quest.”

“NO.” Annie clenches her jaw. “I don’t remember the title. It doesn’t matter. It was one of those cheesy sci-fi movies. You’ve probably never heard of it,” she adds when Abed starts to stare hard at the ground, eyes flickering back and forth.

“Pandorum.”

“NO.” She shakes her hands out in front of her and takes a deep breath as she continues. “It’s just a guy and a girl and a spaceship. And when they first meet, the girl… has a little bit of a crush on the guy. It’s silly really because he doesn’t seem interested, or he’s in complete denial, whatever.”

“This still sounds like a girly movie,” Troy says slowly, voice tinged with suspicion.

“It’s… not. Because there’s also a… war.” Annie draws out her sentence slowly as she thinks. “Their spaceship is attacked by another more state of the art, expensive spaceship and everyone has to band together to save their home. There’s a lot of fighting and guns and death and… blood?”

Troy’s eyes continue to get wider the longer her description goes on. “Awesome,” he breathes.

“Star Wars.”

“No. And through it all the two main characters become friends. Really good friends. And they start spending a lot more time together. She helps him study for bio—flight school and he helps her deal with this pesky new girl who comes in thinking she’s better than everyone when she’s NOT.” Annie’s voice gets tight as her fists clench where they’re resting at her knees.

“Are you sure this was a movie? These sound a lot like classic sitcom tropes.”

“Why does a spaceship have flight school?” Troy muses.

“I guess it was more of a space station then.”

Abed and Troy whip their heads toward each other. “That’s no moon; that’s a space station,” they say in unison with deep husky voices.

Annie rolls her eyes and she’s quiet for a second as she thinks, her face relaxing and one side of her mouth twisting up.

“And then one day they kiss again and they play it off like it’s not big deal, but--”

“Again?”

“Uggggggh.”

Annie shakes herself out of the reverie she’s fallen into and sighs loudly. “What now?”

“This just got boring again,” Troy grumbles.

“Battlestar Galactica. Farscape. Lost in Space.”

“NO. IT WASN’T…” Annie takes in a deep breath and crosses her arms over her chest, choosing for the time being to ignore Abed and turn her attention to Troy. “Romance isn’t all bad.”

“Duh-doyyyy. But it sucks when it’s boring. If two people want to be together then they should just be together.” He shrugs and waggles his eyebrows. “And then get to the fun stuff.”

Annie flushes a little at the insinuation but Troy continues. “Like saving the rebels from the Empire and blowing up the Death Star. Or having sword fights with six fingered men.” His eyes set defiantly as he pretends to brandish a sword. “My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father…” His wrist flicks as he stabs at the air, but then he drops his arm and smiles wistfully. “I wish I had someone to avenge.”

Abed shakes his head. “I’ve always thought of you as more of a Fezzik.”

Troy squints as he thinks about it. “Nah, man, I’ve never been good at rhymes.”

Annie glances between them and slumps forward in resignation with her elbows on her knees. “I always liked Princess Buttercup,” she offers. “I liked her name.”

“If you’re going to be a princess, you should be like Princess Leia, cause then you get to make out with Han Solo.” Troy sighs a little dreamily before catching himself and glancing sideways at the raised eyebrow Annie is sending his direction. “I meant that in a manly way.” He coughs and pounds his chest with his fist, grunting low in his throat and Annie rolls her eyes.

Abed nods in approval. “Annie would be a good Princess Leia. She has the right combination of innocence and badassness.”

Annie preens at the compliment, sitting up straighter and throwing her shoulders back. “Would I have to wear those little buns though?” She holds her hands up around her ears to demonstrate. “I feel like that would get annoying.

“No. Despite the iconic imagery Leia only wore her hair like that in the first movie.” Abed glances at her and tilts his head to the side. “You could wear the gold metal bikini.”

Troy’s eyes widen as they drop to Annie’s chest. “Yeaaaaah, you should do that.”

Annie lets out an indignant gasp and pushes against his shoulder. “Troy!”

“What?! You would look hot.” He shakes his head in confusion as pink blossoms up her cheeks. Abed nods.

“You guys are such… guys,” Annie grumbles, trying to press back the pleased warmth in her chest.

“Hey, Princess Annie.” She looks up at Troy and he pushes back lightly against her arm. “Finish telling us about the movie.”

“I thought it was too girly for you.”

He shrugs. “I want to know how it ends.”

Annie opens her mouth to tell them that she never saw the ending, that she doesn’t even know how it turns out, but they’re both watching her curiously and a mischievous smile spreads across her face as she leans forward.

“Okay. So, here’s the twist. The entire time all this was going on, aliens were infiltrating their space station. Only no one ever knew because they looked just like humans and were killing everyone off and replacing them one by one with identical counterparts.

“WOAH.”

“Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” Abed snaps his fingers and points at her.

Annie shrugs, “Sure. Whatever.”

“How do they kill them?” Troy asks breathlessly.

“They eat their brains.”

“Gross.”

“Suck them right out through their ears.”

Abed shakes his head. “This movie sounds terrible.”

 

~*~*~

 

It’s nearing dusk when they arrive at Bishop Castle, a strange winding structure of stone and iron, an in-progress work of art situated on a mountainside amidst towering pines.

Abed and Troy disappear inside immediately but Annie, eyes on the sign that reads, “Enter at Your Own Risk”, chooses to stay safe on the ground. She looks up and up to the top of the highest tower, her stomach tumbling as she catches glimpses of other tourists making their way up the seemingly endless steps.

It really is quite beautiful – large arching windows and sloping stone walls that would almost seem better suited on a country cottage but continue rising up into spiraling turrets. It’s like something out of a fairy tale and it’s a little surprising that Abed and Troy didn’t insist on taking her up to the highest tower and proclaiming it her castle.

The “Princess Annie” nickname had stuck for the rest of the afternoon and everywhere they went she was flanked by Troy and Abed pretending to be her bodyguards. They had even bought matching pairs of sunglasses from the gas station for verisimilitude. Annie had stopped them short though when they started talking about finding suits to wear to complete the look, managing to convince them that real bodyguards would travel in plain clothes.

A young family of five emerges then from the entrance of the castle, both parents looking frazzled and exhausted. Two young boys weave between and around them, tugging on hands and legs and talking a mile a minute, the youngest shouting things like, “DO ARMY GUYS LIVE HERE? DO THEY HAVE SWORDS? DO THEY FIGHT DRAGONS? ARE DRAGONS REAL? CAN I GET A HAPPY MEAL FOR DINNER?”

The father, holding a little girl with blond pigtails draped dead asleep over his shoulder reaches into his pocket for his keys and hands them to his wife.

“Yes, you can get a Happy Meal,” he says wearily as the entire family walks by Annie towards their car. Both boys cheer loudly.

Annie turns slightly, continuing to watch from a distance as both parents maneuver all three kids into their SUV. As soon as the little girl is strapped into her car seat she jerks awake and starts crying. The mother hands her a little stuffed animal and then slides the door closed, muffling her daughter’s cries. Both parents stand there for a moment, talking quietly until he rubs her arm with a smile and walks around to the other side of the car.

“Princess Annie!”

She turns and looks back up at the castle where Troy and Abed are waving to her from a rickety looking metal staircase on the outside of one of the turrets. She waves back and resists the urge to tell them to be careful.

 

~*~*~

It’s almost nine o’clock when they spill out of the car at a truck stop outside Colorado Springs, stretching and groaning. Annie’s skin feels grimy from the recycled air of the car and she heads straight toward the bathroom to splash some water on her face. She peers into the mirror and makes a face at her reflection as she pats her skin dry with one of the cheap paper towels that smell like cardboard. Her eyes look a little glazed over and bloodshot and there are flyaways sticking out from her temples and out of the messy bun she’s pulled her hair into. She attempts to pat them down with wet fingertips and then sighs in resignation and tosses the paper towel in the trashcan as she pushes back out the door.

Abed and Troy are sitting at a table under the large window facing out toward the parking lot and Annie slides in next to Troy, facing away from the window so she’s not blinded by the glare of headlights from the big rigs that pull in and out at intervals. She eyes the two trays on the table loaded down with hot dogs, cheese fries and large chocolate cookies. Her stomach churns.

Troy has his phone tucked between his ear and shoulder, keeping his hands free as he struggles to open a packet of mustard. He looks up and nods toward her as she sits down.

“Hey, Annie. Jeff can’t find Monkey. Do you have any other tricks for getting Ben to sleep?”

“Wha--” She blinks at him, startled and gaping. “Why? Wait. What?”

“Jeff’s babysitting Ben and he can’t find Monkey and now Ben won’t go to sleep.”

Annie continues staring at him, unable to wrap her mind around what’s happening. Troy widens his eyes expectantly and she snaps out of it, the scrolling marquee of information going through her head finally catching up to speed.

“Um. Tell him to look between the wall and the crib. Sometimes Monkey gets wedged in there.”

Troy relays the message and then waits, taking a bite of his hot dog in the meanwhile. Faintly Annie can hear Jeff’s muffled voice through the speaker. Troy rolls his eyes. “Uh. I’ve seen Jurassic Park, Jeff. You can’t tell me that a rhinoceros isn’t a kind of dinosaur.”

He looks over at Annie a moment later. “Jeff says thanks.”

“Oh. Tell him I said you’re welcome.”

Troy gives her a strange look as he hangs up and she realizes how stunned she must look. She quickly looks over at Abed but he’s not paying any attention.

“I have a question,” Troy asks over another bite of food. “If there weren’t people during dinosaur times, then how to we know the names of all the dinosaurs?”

Annie barely listens to Abed’s answer, her attention turning back towards Troy’s phone where it’s resting on the table.

She’s spent the entire day feeling lost and disconnected, from Jeff, from the summer, from her own damn emotions, but there’s a sudden settling familiarity in her stomach that spreads out into each of her limbs and tingles at the back of her neck.

He’s still there - miles away, but there - being Jeff Winger. He hasn’t evaporated into the ether of distance and daydreams and exaggerated memories, and the certainty of him makes her relax back into the booth, tension draining from her body and leaving her boneless and exhausted.

She’s ready to go home.

“Annie?”

She looks up to see Abed and Troy smiling at her expectantly.

“Sorry. What?”

They turn and grin at each other and then back at her and she leans her head back warily.

“We have a proposition for you.”


	10. Chapter 10

Jeff is staring at the door.

His hands are pressed to his thighs, clenching and unclenching as his knee bounces up and down with nervous anticipation. He glances down at the two omelets on the counter, then back up at the door, his cheeks puffing out with one long exhale through pursed lips. A momentary calm spreads through his body, shoulders relaxing as he leans forward slightly and stares hard at the floor with a furrowed brow. The corners of his mouth barely twitch up before he catches himself and coughs, pressing a fist to his lips and jumping up to start pacing back and forth along the length of the couch.

He’s lost track of how long she’s been gone and he’s half dreading the moment she walks back in the door. Speeches are his thing; his best closing statements had always been off the cuff, but now after weeks, months, years of this, he has no idea what to say to her, no idea how to say it and his mind is skittering around from thought to thought in an overwhelming whirr that makes him twitchy.

His pacing edges him closer to the window and he peers down into the parking lot, freezing when he sees that her car is gone from its normal spot. He swivels his head toward the door, then back out the window. Wait. Shit. She wasn’t supposed to actually leave.

Jeff practically trips over himself back to the bedroom to grab his phone off the dresser, not even stopping to think before quickly scrolling to her number. He’s still not sure what to say and it’s likely that something monumentally dumb is going to come out of his mouth when she answers but she’d looked scared when she ran out the door and he really needs her to come back.

The line rings and a moment later a rattling vibration sounds from behind him. He barely registers it at first but at the second ring and the second vibration he turns slowly and spots her phone sitting on the nightstand by the bed. He stares at it, holding his phone to his ear, watching her phone vibrate closer to the edge until her voice comes cheerily over the line. “Hey, you’ve reached Annie. I’m not--”

Jeff quickly hangs up. “Shiiiiiiit,” he breathes as he drops down to sit at the edge of the bed, at a complete loss. Ten minutes ago he had been making breakfast and planning on spending another day lazing around the apartment with Annie, watching bad television and maybe kissing her at some point because the need to kiss her had been thrumming under his skin since he had walked into the kitchen and seen her standing at the sink in pink pajamas and her hair half falling out of its ponytail.

He scrubs his fingers through his hair a few times, fighting back the breathless pressure of feelings that expands in his chest and up into his throat. A crooked smile pulls at his lips and he huffs out a small laugh as he stands up again and looks around the room. Her water glass and phone are on the nightstand, her blankets are in a heaping pile on the floor where he had kicked them off the night before, there’s still an indent in the pillow on her side of the bed, and he really can’t be in here right now.

Back in the kitchen he opens a cupboard and takes out a box of coffee filters, holds it in his hand for a moment before realizing that he doesn’t even want coffee - the last thing his adrenaline filled body needs right now is more caffeine - and putting it back. He opens another cupboard, stares at the contents, then closes it again.

There’s a purple pen resting next to Annie’s supply of post-its where she keeps them by the coffee pot and Jeff picks it up, clicking it absentmindedly. After two months the stainless steel fridge is almost completely covered in a bright pattern of color and every once in a while when the door is opened one of the post-it notes will unstick and go fluttering to the ground. Jeff presses his fingers firmly over the bent up edges of one that says, “It’s Friday!” his eyes tracing over Annie’s loopy handwriting.

The increasingly frenetic click, click, click of the pen suddenly registers in his brain and he tosses it down and wrenches open the fridge door with more force than necessary and pulls out a carton of milk. He takes a long swig and sets it back, wiping the back of his hand over his mouth and burping loudly. The sound seems to echo around the tiny kitchen and he looks around like he’s half expecting someone to make a noise of disgust in response.

Earlier in the summer, just days after she moved in Annie had walked into the kitchen one morning to find him in almost the exact same spot, milk carton in hand. Her nose had started to scrunch up, but before she was able to open her mouth he pointed at her and said sternly, “Rule number two.” She had stared at him for another minute, eyes narrowing before turning and walking away with a sigh.

Jeff grins to himself at the memory and kicks the fridge door shut. He grabs the two plates off the counter, tosses the now cold omelets in the trash and dumps the plates in the sink. The bubbles that Annie had filled the sink with earlier have dissipated into a sad fizz that congeals around the edges of the tepid dishwater so Jeff turns the faucet on to hot and over the next half hour washes all the dishes, wipes down the counters and sweeps and mops the floor.

About halfway through his work he starts whistling to himself.

When he gets back from taking out the trash he stands still for a moment in the middle of the living room, briefly considers vacuuming and then growls, “fuck it.” He hasn’t showered since the day before yesterday and he feels the uncomfortable kind of gross and grungy that comes from lying around in bed for two days straight, so he yanks off his shirt, throws it in the direction of his bedroom and heads into the bathroom.

As the shower starts to fill with steam and he stands still under the almost-too-hot water it’s impossible not to think about her, the way droplets of water still cling to the tiled walls after she showers in the morning, the air heavy with the scent of her shampoo, making those repressed fantasies of her in there with him with wandering hands and slick warm skin and a warmer mouth all that much more tangible. She’s this undercurrent of thought meandering through his mind no matter what he does, even when he’s not aware of it…

… and she loves him.

Jeff presses his palms against the wall, leaning his head down and letting the water cascade over his shoulders and back in calming rivulets, a slow smile spreading across his face until he can’t help but laugh, a low rumbling that starts in his chest and makes tears prickle at the corners of his eyes.

 

~*~*~

By the time he gets out of the shower, styles his hair and throws on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt it’s eleven o’clock. He tries sitting down to watch television with his bare feet up on the coffee table, but ends up only staring at the blank screen for about five minutes, not even bothering reaching for the remote before he’s up again and grabbing a pair of shoes from his closet. There’s an antsy buzz biting at his skin, the soles of his feet, and keeping him moving out the door with his keys and wallet in hand.

He ends up at the mall.

It’s crowded with Saturday morning shoppers and he walks past chattering groups of teenage girls and parents pushing strollers, the thumping bass and emanating body spray of Abercrombie, and a line of kiosks where sales personnel harass passerby with hair straighteners and lotions and heat packs.

He stops and grabs a coffee from the shop just on the edge of the food court and sits in one of the uncomfortable metal chairs, stirring in a packet of sugar and leaning back to sip carefully as he idly spins his phone around the table with one hand and barely pays attention to anyone around him. There’s a group of older women at the table next to him with nearly matching bobbed haircuts, visors, and polo shirts and he’s pretty sure he hears one of them mention something about a “cute butt” so when he gets up Jeff sends a wink in their direction and walks away with a smile as they giggle behind him.

A perky salesperson with red streaks in her sleek blonde hair and too much green eyeshadow greets him at the front of Sephora. Jeff knows he has a bunch of Beauty Insider points racked up and he needs a new moisturizer so he lets her direct him around the store pointing out her recommendations and a half an hour later he walks out with a new cleanser, moisturizer and a handful of samples.

When he passes the RC helicopter kiosk there are a few scattered people standing around watching with half interest as the salesman does a demo and shouts out random facts about the helicopter. Jeff almost continues on his way before he hears that this one has the capability to hold and shoot water. It’s been a while since he and Troy had last gone through an RC phase but this just takes it to a whole new level of interesting.

He buys two. At the very least they’ll torture Pierce with them.

He’s walking towards Banana Republic and mentally cataloguing his current Fall wardrobe selection when a dress in the window catches his eye. It’s simple, black, and form fitting – an almost perfect replica of the dress Annie wore to the party at his firm. Jeff’s fingers tighten around the handles of the bags in his hand and he keeps walking.

Over the next hour or so he makes stops at Aldo, Hallmark to buy a birthday card for his mom, GNC and Game Stop. There’s one terrifying moment where he thinks he spots the Dean and is half ready to hide behind a large potted plant until he realizes it’s just a female Hot Topic employee.

He makes one last stop at Macy’s and is in the middle of searching for a fitting room to try on a long sleeved blue plaid that he remembers Annie making an off-handed remark about how good he looked in that shade of blue. At the time he had smirked and made some comment about how every color looked good on him. She had immediately retorted that he might want to re-think orange and Jef had sighed and said she was right, he had never figured out how to get that one to work.

He buys the shirt without trying it on.

As he’s walking out of the store he spots a familiar head of curly blonde hair up ahead and smirks as he lengthens his stride to catch up, falling into step with her. “Here to protest the damaging consumerist ideology pervading our culture? Or did you hear about the two-for-one Team Jacob t-shirts at Hot Topic?”

Britta jumps at the sound of his voice, stepping back and raising her fists defensively before she realizes it’s him.

“Jeff?”

“Hilary Swank?” His eyes fall to the striped pink bag in her hand and his mouth turns up into a delighted grin. “Are anarchists supporting Victoria Secret now?” He leans over and tries to peer into the bag but Britta wrenches it away from him and holds it behind her back.

“Like you’re one to talk.” She waves at the bags in his left hand. “Sephora having a sale?”

Jeff ignores her, zeroing in on the flush spreading across her cheeks. His eyes widen slightly.

“Wow. You really like this guy.” There’s a hint of surprise and a little bit of awe in his voice. He’s honestly not trying to be an ass, but Britta won’t meet his eyes so he adds, “I mean, the most I ever got was Fruit of the Loom. If you were wearing anything at all.”

Britta makes a loud noise of disgust and swings the bag at his arm. “Oh like I was going to put a lot of effort into a guy whose idea of romance was ‘letting’ me watch him do cool down push-ups after sex.”

“Says the woman who practically had one foot out the door before the sex was even over.”

Britta levels him with a smirk. “Felt over to me.” She turns on her heel and practically stomps away. Jeff watches her leave, looks down at the bags in his hand, and then follows with a shrug, catching up to her after a only few steps.

She doesn’t slow down. “Don’t you have anything better to do than follow me around the mall on a Saturday afternoon?”

“Not really. Your life amuses me.”

Britta makes a little shooing motion. “Well go away. Where’s Annie? Make her entertain you.”

There’s a tug low in his stomach at her name, at Britta’s assumption, and he’s suddenly horrified at the prickling heat spreading up his neck and cheeks.

He tries to shake it off with a scoffing noise, “I don’t--”

But Britta comes to a halt, her eyes narrowed as she points a finger at his face. “What was that? What just happened?”

“Um. Nothing, weirdo.”

She searches his face, her scrutiny making him shift back and look over his shoulder nervously. “It’s really hot in here, right? I think I heard something about the air conditioning being out.”

Britta’s curiosity evolves into smugness, lips twisting into a smirk. “Shirley told me about you two sleeping in the same bed.”

Jeff snorts, “Shirley’s a war-mongering gossip.”

“Maybe, but she doesn’t lie.” Britta crosses her arms across her chest. “What did you do?”

For a split second he thinks about telling her. Instead, he laughs and shakes his head as he turns in the opposite direction. “I’m going to go get a pretzel.”

He walks past Hollister, Baby Gap, the store selling what looks like giant bean bag chairs, and two jewelry stores, Britta’s boots clacking behind him the entire time. He finally darts into Williams Sonoma and starts immediately perusing a shelf of cookbooks with exaggerated interest, but she follows him and stands facing him, hands on her hips. Jeff pulls out a cookbook and holds it out to her.

“I’ve been thinking about going gluten free. Thoughts?”

“You couldn’t have at least kept it in your pants until we graduated?”

“Britta.” Jeff starts slowly as he puts the cookbook back and wanders over to a shelf of stainless steel cookware. “Nothing was taken out of anybody’s pants, alright? It’s fine. Besides.” He scrubs his hand over his forehead. “You’re the last person I want to talk to about this.”

“Oh. The last person? So you’d rather talk to… Julian Assange?”

“What?”

“He runs--”

“I know who he is, and you know what? I would rather talk to him. He probably wouldn’t judge me.”

Britta frowns. “I won’t judge you.” Jeff side-eyes her, eyebrows practically at his hairline, and she sighs and sticks her chin out defiantly. “Fine. I judge people. But that’s my right as your friend… and as an American.”

Jeff’s eyes widen as he nods quickly and taps his index finger against his lips. “Well then it’s a good thing we’re not in Canada then, right?”

“Exactly.” Britta starts to nod and then stops. “Wait, what?”

“I honestly have no idea.” He grins at her and she tilts her head to the side, first in confusion, then in resignation.

“You’re really not going to talk about this are you?”

“Nope.”

They’re both quiet as they stand side by side in front of a wall of utensils. Britta picks one up and flips it around in her hand. “What is this?”

“Garlic press.”

Jeff takes it away from her and puts it back and she sighs loudly. “Fine…just.” Her hand waves out in front of her face in a vague flicking motion. “Be careful. Okay?”

“With the garlic press? It’s really not that dangerous.” He smacks her lightly on the arm with a spatula but his smile fades when she won’t meet his eyes. Jeff’s fingers tighten until he’s afraid he’s going to break something. He tosses the spatula back and looks away.

“You really think I’d hurt her?”

When she doesn’t answer for a long moment he swivels his head around to see that she’s making a face, nose scrunching up like she’s embarrassed.

“She wasn’t the one I was worried about,” she mumbles so low it’s almost indecipherable.

Jeff stares at her. “What?” He tries to laugh but the sound gets caught in his throat. “What? You think Annie’s going to break my heart?”

“No. But I think she could.” Britta finally looks up at him, shrugging sheepishly and Jeff swallows hard and nods.

“Yeah. Me too.”

They walk out of the store under the annoyed glare of the manager behind the counter who seems suspicious that they didn’t buy anything, and directly into a rowdy group of teenage boys who are laughing and pushing each other and barely even notice when Jeff and Britta have to sidestep out of their way. One of them looks back over his shoulder, giving Britta an appreciative once over. Jeff smirks at him but Britta doesn’t notice; she’s running her thumb along the pink ribbon handle of her bag and smiling down at the ground.

“So when do we get to meet this guy?”

She looks up, a mischievous grin pulling at her lips. “Who says you haven’t already?”

“I knew it.”

Britta rolls her eyes and nods her head in goodbye but Jeff reaches out and grabs her hand before she can leave. “Hey.” He struggles for the right words but she shakes him off with a shudder.

“Whatever. You’re welcome.” She starts walking away backwards, head tilted to the side, contemplating him. “You know, if I had known you were this damaged when we first met I probably would have slept with you a lot sooner.”

Jeff laughs so loud that a woman walking past him turns around to give him a dirty look.

 

~*~*~

His phone vibrates in his back pocket as he’s walking back through the mall towards the entrance and he slips it out to see who’s calling, smiling when he sees the name on the screen and answering it immediately.

“Shirley.”

“Oh Jeffrey. Good. Is Annie with you?”

Jeff stops short and tilts his head back with a groan. “Oh come on! Nothing happened.”

The line is quiet and he winces in anticipation.

“That’s not why I’m calling.” Her voice is low and a little dangerous. “But you better believe we will be discussing the inappropriateness of you letting that girl sleep in your bed.”

“But see, what you call inappropriate I call chival--”

Shirley clears her throat loudly and Jeff stops mid-sentence.

“We’ll. Talk. About. It. Later.”

Jeff rolls his eyes, “Okay, mom.”

“Oh I know you did not just insinuate that I’m old enough to be your mom. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you people--” There’s a muffled commotion over the line and then a rustling like she’s covering the speaker with something fabric. When she gets back on a few moments later her voice has returned to a cooing sweetness that is somehow even more disconcerting.

“Andre’s taking me out dancing tonight and my sister was supposed to baby-sit until she decided to run off to Vegas with her no-good boyfriend for the weekend. The older boys are staying with friends but I don’t have anyone to watch Ben.”

“She’s still dating that loser?” Jeff asks with a grimace. “I thought they finally broke up.”

“Don’t get me started. Did I tell you about the waitress he was running around on her with?”

“I thought she was a dental hygienist.”

“That was last month.” Shirley launches enthusiastically into the sordid story of her sister walking in on her boyfriend in flagrante and proceeding to scream about it so loudly that four different neighbors called the cops because they thought someone was being murdered. Jeff listens, fascinated. When he gets outside he squints and tucks the phone securely under his ear to reach for his sunglasses where they’re hooked into his front pocket and slide them onto his face.

“I just pray that the Lord has mercy on their sinful souls,” Shirley’s careful to add at the end and Jeff snorts.

“And I’m sure you take absolutely no pleasure in that.”

“I always enjoy praying to the Lord, Jeffrey. Something you might want to--”

“Shirley.”

She coughs. “Anywho, I’ve been trying to call Annie but she hasn’t answered her phone.”

“Oh. She--” He recalls the panic in Annie’s voice, the surprise in her wide blue eyes, the final click of the apartment door. “She’s still not feeling all that great. I think she was planning on sleeping all day so she probably has her phone turned off.”

Shirley tisks and asks if Annie needs anything and Jeff quickly tells her that it’s nothing a few days sleep won’t fix. Then:

“I can babysit if you want.”

There’s a pause before Shirley lets out a loud barking laugh.

Jeff frowns. “What? I’m serious.”

“What do you know about taking care of kids?” She’s asks through her laughter.

“Uh. They eat, sleep, and poop. What else is there to know?”

“Oh. So that’s all you think there is to-- Andre!” There’s another commotion as Shirley’s voice fades into the background and then Andre’s comes over the line.

“Hey man, we would really appreciate the help.”

“Has he ever even changed a diaper?” Jeff can hear Shirley asking. He recognizes the resigned-slash-frustrated tone in her voice.

“Yeah. Yup. Definitely. I took Home Ec. Easy.” He doesn’t mention that he took the class because of a girl and then proceeded to skip as often as possible and con different members of the class into doing the work for him when it turned out she already had a boyfriend.

“Great. Can you be here around six?” Jeff is pretty sure there’s a trace of laughter in Andre’s voice and he frowns again as he hangs up and heads toward his car.

~*~*~

He stops at home to drop off everything he bought and when he opens the door and sees that her stuff is still there he lets out a relieved exhale.

~*~*~

 

The front door closes, cutting off Shirley’s last shouted instructions as Andre tugs her out of the house. Jeff stands in the doorway to the living room, arms folded over his chest, and looks down at the fifteen-month-old sitting on the carpeted floor surrounded by toys.

“So, what’s the plan for tonight, buddy?”

Ben looks up at Jeff and throws his hand up toward him in a wave, “Hi. Hi.” He gets up and toddles over to the toy chest next to the television, reaches in and pulls out a block that he holds up in excitement. “Block!”

Jeff raises an eyebrow and then shrugs, joining him on the floor sitting cross-legged. He picks up one of the large bubble-shaped blocks and scoffs.

“This isn’t a Lego. What the hell is this?”

Ben pulls it away from him and carefully sets it atop another block already on the floor. “Block!” he yells again.

Jeff adds another one on top and Ben nods approvingly.

They go back and forth, building up a tower until it’s almost taller than Ben is standing up. It wavers slightly to the left and Jeff is just about to suggest adding more support around the base when Ben swipes his arm out and topples the entire thing to the ground. He claps his hands together, bouncing unsteadily at his knees, “Agin!”

Together they continue stacking towers, trying to build as high as possible before Ben knocks them over. The first one that Jeff destroys is purely an accident – he’s twisting his torso to stretch out a kink in his back and his elbow bangs into it - but it makes Ben shriek with such loud delighted laughter that Jeff can’t help but do it again. Soon it becomes a competition to see who can knock down their towers first until Jeff’s barely putting the second block down when Ben kicks his leg out and sends both blocks flying across the room.

Ben yelps happily and Jeff’s laughing too until Ben launches himself at where Jeff’s sitting, his elbow connecting painfully with Jeff’s lower stomach.

“Jeeeeesus.” Jeff doubles over, face twisted up in pain while Ben continues to laugh and climb all over him. “Kid,” he groans out. “You’re killing me.”

He manhandles Ben off his lap and throws him over his shoulder, holding onto his legs to keep him steady and the tiny boy kicks and wiggles, almost smacking Jeff in the face.

“Back ride!”

“Um.” Jeff sniffs at the air tentatively and grimaces, quickly pulling Ben away and setting him down on his feet on the carpet. “I was really hoping you weren’t going to do that.”

“Back ride!”

“Nope.” Jeff stands and bends over slightly to grab Ben’s hand and direct him toward the bedroom where he eyes the changing station and the stack of diapers Shirley left out for him. “We can do this, right?”

Ben nods seriously.

Jeff gags twice, Ben squirms and flails the entire time, trying to grab everything in sight, and it takes him a couple tries to figure out which end of the diaper goes front, but after a few minutes the new diaper is on and secure. He stands Ben up, wiggling him around slightly to make sure it stays on and then lets out a loud, “HA!”

“I always knew those sitcom dads were full of shit.”

~*~*~

Dinner is a relatively easy affair - Jeff warms up some of Shirley’s homemade mac and cheese and he and Ben sit together side-by-side eating from tiny bowls in front of the television while watching Pound Puppies. There’s one minor spill, but Jeff cleans it up and then moves the couch forward a fraction of an inch just to be safe.

Afterwards, he manages to get Ben’s pajamas on, wash his face clean of cheese sauce and set him down in his crib without much of a fuss, but as soon as Jeff starts to step away Ben pushes himself up to sitting, looks around and then meets Jeff’s eyes with a plaintive, “Monkey?”

“Oh. Yeah.” Shirley had warned him that Ben needed to have his favorite stuffed monkey with him in order to go to sleep. There’s already a small contingent of stuffed animals in the crib – a bear dressed in a football jersey, a yellow elephant, a stuffed Blorgon – but no monkey.

Ben starts to whimper as Jeff rummages through the toy chest and closet to no avail, trying to tamp down a rising panic. He finally spots a monkey crammed into the net of stuffed animals hanging over the crib and goes to yank it out with enough force that a rain of stuffed animals topples out and into the crib. A plush Eeyore bounces off Ben’s head and he looks startled for a moment before giggling and picking it up.

“Or!”

“Crap. Sorry. What does a kid your age need with so many stuffed animals anyway?” Jeff tosses each one haphazardly into the net, leaving the Eeyore in Ben’s hand and pressing the monkey into the other. “There you go.”

Ben stares at it for a second, looks up at Jeff and takes one hiccupping, shuddering breath, his lower lip trembling. Jeff freezes, eyes widening slowly, but the second he takes one step towards the crib Ben opens his mouth and lets out a loud shout.

“No! Monkey!”

“I gave you your monkey. What else do you want?” And he flinches back as Ben pulls himself up and chucks the stuffed animal over the side of the crib, his face starting to go red with anger.

“Monkey!”

“Okay. Soooo. Wrong monkey.”

Jeff spends the next five minutes frantically searching Jordan and Elijah’s room, Shirley and Andre’s room, the living room, the kitchen and the bathroom, Ben’s cries echoing from his bedroom all the while in a growing desperation. He’s torn the cushions off the couch and opened almost every cupboard in the house but there’s still no sign of a stuffed monkey and it’s with a string of curses muttered under his breath that he grabs his cell phone off the coffee table.

He knows that Abed and Troy baby-sit once in a while so he tries Abed first. There’s no answer. He doesn’t leave a message and hangs up to scroll to Troy’s number and then tuck the phone under his ear as he walks back towards Ben’s room, swallowing hard at the sight of Ben standing where he left him, his cheeks wet with fat crocodile tears that roll off his chin and soak into the neckline of his shirt.

Jeff gingerly picks him up and settles him onto his hip, Ben immediately curling his head against Jeff’s chest and continuing to cry, quieter now.

After the fourth ring, Jeff is about ready to give up and try Shirley but then Troy’s voice is in his ear.

“Yo man, what’s up? Where are you? Is that a cat?”

Jeff lets out a long relieved breath. “It’s Ben. I’m babysitting. Listen, Shirley told me that he always stops crying as long as he has his monkey. I gave him the only fucking monkey stuffed animal I could find and he still won’t. stop. crying.”

Troy lets out a dry sarcastic laugh that usually means he thinks the person he’s talking to is being stupid. “Uh. You gave him a monkey? Monkey’s not a monkey, Jeff. He’s a dinosaur.”

“WHAT.”

He pulls the phone away from his ear for a second, squeezing his eyes shut and clenching his fist around the phone in frustration before he takes a deep breath and starts looking around anew for what Troy describes as a blue dinosaur with yellow horns. He doesn’t find anything that fits the description but Ben’s crying subdues slightly as he watches curiously.

“Troy, I still can’t find anything.”

“Hold on.” Jeff can hear the chatter of voices in the background like Troy’s in a crowded restaurant. Then, “Hey, Annie. Jeff can’t find Monkey. Do you have any other tricks for getting Ben to sleep?”

Jeff freezes, her name a kind of electric shock that shuts off all brain function for a split second, and he’s sure he’s heard that wrong.

But then there’s the soft, unmistakable sound of her voice. He can’t make out most of what she says but he’s pretty sure he hears a panicked “what?!” that almost makes him laugh.

“Jeff’s babysitting Ben and he can’t find Monkey and now Ben won’t go to sleep.”

There’s a long pause. Jeff looks down at Ben, who is now only hiccupping with residual sobs, and widens his eyes. A flicker of a smile plays at Ben’s mouth and Jeff gives himself a point as Troy gets back on the line.

“She said to look between the wall and the crib. Sometimes Monkey gets wedged in there.”

Jeff leans over the crib and sure enough there’s a blue something shoved into the tiny space. He yanks it out and looks at it, rolling his eyes up toward the ceiling.

“Troy. This is a rhinoceros.” He shoves the stuffed animal at Ben who looks at it, whimpering, and then lets out a happy cry, wrapping his arms all the way around it and resting his cheek on top.

“Uh. I’ve seen Jurassic Park, Jeff. You can’t tell me that a rhinoceros isn’t a kind of dinosaur.”

Jeff lets out a loud exhale. “Um.” He wets his lips. “Hey, tell Annie I said thanks, okay?”

He hears Troy relay the message and then a moment later, “She said, you’re welcome.”

Jeff hangs up and slips the phone into his back pocket, looks down at Ben. “Well, that was exciting.” Ben is clinging tightly to Monkey but his eyes are still large and sad and wet and his entire body feels warm. Jeff tightens his hold on him, trying not to care that Ben’s tears have soaked into his shirt now, leaving him feeling damp all over. He eases onto the gliding rocking chair, guilt at making the kid so upset keeping him from putting him back in his crib.

“It’s okay, buddy.” Jeff stretches his legs out on the ottoman. He looks around, his eyes landing on a framed photo on a shelf above the changing table. It’s a picture of Shirley in the hospital with Ben in her arms. Andre is on one side of her and Elijah and Jordan are on the other, and they’re all crowded onto the bed and smiling into the camera.

“It’s a good thing we got a hold of Annie, huh?” He allows his mind to settle on her, wondering what she’s doing with Troy, if she had actually been so freaked out this morning that she had gotten in her car and driven as far away from him as possible.

Ben sighs heavily and Jeff looks down at him with a raised eyebrow.

“She told me she loved me this morning, you know.” He says it out loud slowly, like he’s testing the words out on his tongue. “Well, yelled it at me actually.”

A tiny affectionate smile plays at his lips. “And I guess I understand the feeling. You don’t get to be friends with Annie Edison for three years without getting smacked in the head every once in awhile by just how--” He cuts himself off.

“God, she’s a lot. Too much. One minute she’s wearing these buttoned up sweaters and leaving annoying text messages to remind me to study and the next she’s wresting in oil and coming up with evil schemes and sitting on my counter in her pajamas telling me about the one time she cheated on a test and then felt so guilty about it that she purposely failed the next one. In fifth grade!”

His jaw twitches, his body tensing, and Ben seems to sense the change because he looks up, lifting Monkey as if to show him, “here he is.”

Jeff ignores it, eyes glazing over as he continues to talk. “I always knew that I cared about her. That was never a question. But she was confusing and too many things and I could never fucking keep track of it all, keep up with her.” His lips purse as he stops and squints at the opposite wall.

“And then a few weeks ago we went to the midnight release of The Dark Knight with Abed and Britta--”

Ben, who had been poking his finger into one of Monkey’s eyes gasps at the sound of Britta’s name and flails his arm out to the side. Jeff grins and reaches out, encircling Ben’s tiny fist in his and shaking it lightly so that Ben giggles.

Jeff thinks about that night at the theater - Annie in capris and hoodie, her hair pulled into a ponytail, musing over whether she should get Raisinets or Junior Mints while Jeff only half listened, inwardly griping over the unruly crowd of mostly teenage boys.

A patient from her office had walked up and tapped Annie on the arm and they had fallen quickly into a conversation about insurance coverage so Jeff and Abed left her there and weaved their way through the crowd toward the concession stand where Britta was already in line.

After paying and standing off to the side while Abed argued with one of the theater employees about the correct popcorn-to-butter ratio to best maximize movie-going experience Jeff looked over at Annie, noting the attentive way she was listening and nodding slowly, all her normally animated mannerisms subdued into a quiet composure.

She had looked up then and met his eyes so he smiled and held up a box of Raisinets, and then a box of Junior Mints, and her resulting smile had almost knocked him breathless.

“There was this moment… And I’m not going to say that it was suddenly like we were the only two people in the room because it felt like there were a thousand people there all screaming at each other and remind me never to do that again. But…” He tries to figure out how to put into words the way everything inside him had seemed to melt into place, like one big long drawn out exhale.

“It was like I suddenly felt sure of her.”

He looks down as Ben shoves his thumb in his mouth, his eyes starting to look heavy with sleep, his fingers petting absentmindedly at the fur on Monkey’s head.

“I kissed her. A lot actually.”

Jeff closes his eyes and tilts his head back.

“I would have been okay never talking about it. How do you even tell someone…” He snorts. “The movies have it wrong. You don’t say shit like ‘you complete me’ or confess your love in the middle of an airport. Those things don’t fucking mean anything..."

"Sometimes you just kiss her for no reason. And hold her hand even though you’re not the kind of guy that holds hands… And you say, ‘I care what you think about me’ and ‘you don’t have to change’ and ‘let’s stay in tonight’ and…” He huffs out a tiny laugh, “You tell her that ever since she mentioned going to Washington you’ve started wondering what the weather there would do to your hair and if you’d have to take the Bar again, like it’s some kind of given that you’ll just be wherever she is.”

His eyes pop open. “Fuck, that’s cheesy.”

Ben looks up and opens his mouth in a loud yawn that makes his eyes water. He blinks a couple times and sighs.

Jeff grins. “Am I boring you?”

Ben touches his finger to Jeff’s chin. “Mama?”

“Yeah, please don’t tell her about this.”

~*~*~

Ben falls asleep, but Jeff doesn’t get up right away, just keeps gliding back and forth gently in the rocker with one foot braced on the floor, lulled into a mesmerizing calm by the repetitive motion and the weight of Ben heavy in his arms. His eyelids start to grow heavy and his head lolls to the side as he sinks into a light doze.

He’s not sure how long he’s asleep but he startles awake when Ben shifts against him and smacks his lips together a couple times. Jeff blinks and then pulls himself out of the rocking chair, his movements stiff even as he tries not to jar Ben. He lays him back in the crib, makes sure Monkey is tucked in safe next to him and then turns the light off so that the nightlight next to the changing table casts a dim yellow halo around the room.

After cleaning up the dishes from dinner and putting away all Ben’s toys Jeff sprawls out over the couch in front of the television, idly flipping channels until he lands on a Cupcake Wars marathon that he watches half-interestedly for the rest of the night until Shirley and Andre get home around midnight.

Shirley’s practically floating, flitting around the living room and humming as she boots Jeff out the door. He stands on her front porch, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck and peering with heavy exhaustion across the lawn at his car parked on the street. It was only a few days ago that he had been parked in that same spot, Annie in his arms as they bubbled with conspiratorial laughter and the fear of getting caught after a frantic make out in his front seat.

His palms itch with the need to touch her right now.

Jeff doesn’t turn the light on when he gets home, just throws his keys and wallet on the counter and heads straight for the bedroom where he peels off his jeans and stretches out on the bed, one arm behind his head, one hand resting on his stomach. His entire body is braced with tension, and he rolls his head from side to side and closes his eyes.

Somehow he manages to finally drift off to sleep and he’s in the middle of a confusing dream about playing Dungeons and Dragons in what starts out as the Greendale cafeteria but then dissolves into a thick forest where there are real dragons flying around, when a movement against the mattress startles him awake. He blinks into the darkness, lifting his head with a quick intake of breath.

Annie’s leaning one hand on the bed as she takes off her shoes with the other and it takes him moment to orient himself and shake off the heavy feeling that this is part of the dream. It’s like waking up in a bed and room that isn’t his.

“Hey,” he rasps out, starting to sit up, but Annie just shakes her head and slides down next to him.

She pauses for a moment, biting her lip before inching closer under his arm and tucking her body into his. Jeff lies back as she rests her head against his chest, unsure suddenly of what to do with his hands. “Can we just sleep?” she murmurs.

Jeff is still for a moment, sure that she can feel the way his heart is thumping in his chest, before tightening his arm around her. “Yeah.” He nods. “Yeah.”

Annie sighs and curls her fingers into his shirt.


	11. Chapter 11

“Jeff?”

“Yeah?”

She doesn’t answer right away and Jeff focuses on breathing steadily in and out so that she doesn’t notice the way his heart started racing when her voice broke the quiet and startled him out of his thoughts. There’s pretty much no hope of going back to sleep anytime soon and since she crawled in next to him ten minutes ago he’s been aggravatingly aware of every point where they touch – her head resting against his shoulder, arm draped over his chest, eyelashes fluttering against the fabric of his tee-shirt every time she opens her eyes so that he knows she’s as wide awake as he is.

“Why were you babysitting Ben?” she whispers finally, genuine curiosity in her voice.

“Huh? What? Oh.” Jeff clears his throat and blinks up at the ceiling. “Shirley’s babysitter fell through and she couldn’t get a hold of you actually.”

“Oh.” She nods against him. “I forgot my phone this morning… yesterday morning?”

“I noticed.”

Annie nods again and falls silent for a long moment. Jeff’s arm is still around her, his hand resting against her hip and he brushes his fingers back and forth lightly, his thumb slipping just barely under the hem of her shirt.

“It was weird being without it all day,” she says over a tiny yawn, relaxing against him even deeper and slipping one leg over his. “I don’t think you would have survived.”

“Is that a challenge?”

Annie giggles softly. “Maybe.”

“Because I don’t accept.”

“Why not?”

“Because I freely admit it. I couldn’t go a day without my phone. And there’s nothing wrong with that.”

She sighs. “I knew people like you in rehab.”

“Hey, at least I’m not in denial.”

“But what if…” Annie pauses to yawn again, tucking her face against his side so that Jeff can feel the warmth of her breath through his shirt. He wraps his arm around her more securely. “… there’s a zombie apocalypse or something. And we lose all cell service?”

“First, despite what Abed and Troy say, I’m not real worried about that happening. And second, I rely on my phone because I can rely on my phone. Survival of the fittest isn’t just about nature, Annie. It’s about using all the tools and technologies at our disposal to the best of our advantage, to be better than other people. How do you know I’m not using my phone to research survival techniques?

“Are you?” she asks incredulously.

“No.”

Annie snorts and Jeff grins into the darkness. They both fall quiet again and Jeff closes his eyes when he feels her fingers slip down his side, mapping out the planes of his torso over his shirt and coming to rest with her palm flat against his stomach. She exhales in a low hum, her fingers twitching lightly.

“Night, Jeff,” she murmurs.

Her soft voice and the familiarity in her words tunnel their way inside him, under his ribcage to this tight spring of tension coiled deep and hard in his chest, relaxing and smoothing over the sharper edges until his entire body seems to unwind and flood with a cool weightlessness. It’s an assuredness and a calm that prickles over his forehead and down the side of his neck and behind his eyes and suddenly the right words are there, rolling around his tongue and threatening to tumble from his lips.

Jeff lifts his head slightly to peer down at her but she’s already asleep and doesn’t stir at his movement. He lies back and closes his eyes, his body so entirely wrung out and exhausted that he doesn’t even remember trying to fall asleep and when he opens his eyes again the sun is already beginning to peak in through the blinds.

~*~*~*~

It takes her a moment to catch her bearings when she starts to stir from sleep, memories from the previous day rushing back to her and falling into place as her legs slide along the sheets with a slow stretch and she turns her face into the pillow. She knows she’s alone before she even opens her eyes; the expanse of his bed is cold and empty without his comforting body heat.

Annie lifts her head to look around, yawning widely and blinking rapidly to clear the sleep from her vision. She almost calls his name but the rich aroma of freshly brewing coffee wafts in from the kitchen and she can hear water running from the bathroom so she only lays her head back down and curls her knees up into a tighter ball under the thin sheet that’s covering her.

The clock on Jeff’s nightstand tells her that it’s nearly eight o’clock but it feels too early like her body still needs another entire night’s rest and she squeezes her eyes closed tight and tries to ward off the nervous flutter in her stomach.

It only seems like moments but she drifts off enough that she doesn’t register the shower turning off and the bathroom door opening until she senses movement in her peripheral vision. He doesn’t say anything and Annie waits a beat before opening her eyes again and focusing on the way the sun slants in over Jeff’s pillow through the blinds. She smooths her hand out over the sheet in front of her, picking and plucking at invisible wrinkles before turning her head slightly to look at him.

He’s leaning into the door frame, arms crossed over his chest, his hair still wet and sticking up all over the place from his shower. He raises an eyebrow as Annie meets his gaze, the corners of his mouth twitching up into a faint, almost bashful smile.

It makes Annie’s entire body shivery with anticipation, a spattering of goose bumps breaking out along her arms, and she sits up slowly and brings her knees up to her chest as Jeff swallows hard, wetting his lips and shifting nervously before making his way toward her with his head bowed. He settles next to her on the edge of the bed, resting his hand over her foot. They both watch his thumb as it brushes back and forth lightly against her through the sheet until there’s a sudden echoing thud from the apartment upstairs, followed by an indiscernible shout.

The break in the quiet makes Jeff laugh, a quick broken laugh, before leaning down and pressing a kiss to her knee and then resting his forehead there, exhaling loudly. Annie giggles softly and brings her hand up to scratch her nails lightly though the hair at the back of his neck and then down just slightly under his shirt.

Jeff leans into her, turning his head to press a kiss to her palm. Annie’s fingers smooth over the stubble at his jaw and he puckers out his lips in another kiss.

“I love you,” he murmurs.

When he looks up at her his eyes are questioning, his features guarded and tense as if he’s still not sure that was the right thing to say and she watches him, chest heaving with a quick surprised breath that catches in her throat as she brings her other hand up to cup his face. She’s nodding then in quick jerky movements, her eyes wide and sparkling and the muscles at her mouth twitching slightly as she tries with every ounce of strength in her not to smile too brightly but everything, everything she feels for him, has ever felt for him, seems to explode and expand inside her at once, her hands shaking with it against him.

A grins breaks across Jeff’s face, eyes seeming to brighten and darken all at once, the lines across his face deepening and a bubbling laugh just starts to break from Annie’s throat as they both lean forward, lips pressing together in a kiss that deepens immediately, turning messy and frantic as they wrap their arms around each other, Annie up on her knees as she folds herself into his lap.

Jeff tugs her tighter against him, cupping the back of her head with his fingers tangling into her hair and Annie slides her hands all over him, across his shoulders and down his chest, over his hips and circling around to his low back. She breaks off into a breathless laugh that makes Jeff grin as he continues kissing across her cheeks and down her jaw, pausing to press his mouth under her ear and take a long deep shuddering breath.

Annie’s pulse pounds in her ears as she struggles to catch her breath and she clings to him, hands fisted in his shirt and desperate to keep him as close as possible, for that tiny pinprick of fear that this will end the moment she lets go. He pulls back slightly, tucking a strand of her hair that had come loose back behind her ear and tugging on her earlobe. They watch each other until Annie laughs and relaxes her grip on him, leaning down to press her temple to his cheek.

Jeff slides a hand down her back.

“Um.”

“So.”

They both start at the same time and then laugh, Annie pulling back again to look at him. With the hint of a smile she bites at her lower lip and fingers the seam of his shirt along his shoulder.

“Do you want breakfast?” she finally manages.

Jeff’s eyes narrow slightly, scrutinizing her as if he knows she has more to say and is trying to will it out of her with the force of his gaze.

“I could eat,” he says slowly.

Annie nods and untangles herself from him to scramble up and off the bed, tugging him to follow with a hand circled around his wrist.

“I’ll make omelets. You made breakfast yesterday and I didn’t…” She trails off as she heads into the kitchen, looking back at him with a guilty wince but he just shakes his head and reaches above her head to grab two mugs from the cabinet for their coffee.

“What did you do yesterday, though,” Jeff asks through a yawn.

As she prepares breakfast Annie tells him about the road trip, about Bishop Castle, and Princess Annie, Troy and Abed singing the entirety of One Hundred Bottles of Beer on the Wall, and the look on Abed’s dad’s face when she showed up on his front steps in her pajamas. She details the car ride and the scenery and the cheap souvenirs that Abed bought and she’s in the middle of describing the amount of food that Troy ate at dinner before getting sick a half an hour later on the side of the road when she realizes she’s been blathering on and that Jeff’s barely said a world.

She’s sitting next to him at the counter, their knees almost touching and he’s eyeing what’s left of his omelet as if he’s trying to decide if the calories are worth it.

Annie stops short and lets out a flustered laugh. “Sorry.”

Jeff looks up, his fork halfway to his mouth. “What?”

“I’m rambling. You don’t care about all this.”

“No, I’ve always wondered about the décor at the Tomahawk Travel Emporium.” He shrugs, his smile turning a little sly at the end and Annie nods and rolls her eyes as she gets up to take their plates to the sink.

“Okay, what about you? What did you do besides babysit?”

“Uh, I went to the mall.”

Annie nods her head toward him, indicating for him to go on but he just shrugs.

“I bought some stuff.” He glances toward the couch where he had dropped all his bags from the day before and then leans over the counter and fists his hand under his chin, grinning at her, “So any big plans today?”

She’s facing the other direction but she shakes her head and it takes her a moment to turn toward him. “Can we…” Annie smiles hopefully and shrugs one shoulder up as she searches for the right word. “Hangout?”

Jeff’s eyebrow cocks up in reply and she flushes.

“We could do that,” he adds.

~*~*~

After Annie takes a quick shower she stands in front of the mirror wrapped only in a towel, her reflection distorted by the tiny droplets of condensation that cling to the glass. The television is on in the living room and it’s muffled enough through the door that she can’t tell what Jeff’s watching but a moment later she hears him laugh softly. The sound of his deep throaty chuckle zips through her and the swell of emotion that overtakes her suddenly has tears pickling at the corners of her eyes and she’s unable to stop from smiling so wide and hard that it almost hurts.

~*~*~

Jeff is sprawled out over one end of the couch. He’s found an episode of The Cosby Show to watch, but keeps the remote control in his hand, tapping it against his knee, in case Annie wants to watch something different.

When she gets out of the bathroom she’s dressed in yoga pants and a tee-shirt, her hair still damp and tangled, and she’s combing her fingers through it gently as she settles next to him near the middle of the couch and curls her legs up under her and angled toward him slightly. The scent of shampoo and cherry almond lotion wafts around her in a familiar aura that makes Jeff smile as he watches her out of the corner of his eye.

“What?”

He shakes his head, “Nothing. This is a good episode.”

They sit silently and watch television. Annie keeps her hands in her lap and Jeff still taps the remote against his knee and they both laugh at amusing bits on the screen in front of them but they don’t talk or even look at each other save for little sideways glances.

After about ten minutes Jeff feels like he’s going to jump out of his skin. He wants to lean close and press his mouth against her neck just under her ear. He wants to lay her out against the cushions and spend the entire day kissing her. And he really wants her to just say something because the silence is making him insane.

Annie turns and glances at him then and he realizes he’s staring and looks away quickly. She sighs and Jeff clenches his jaw and rolls his eyes upward toward the ceiling because this is ridiculous and he is not a fourteen-year-old boy on his first date. He clicks the television off and stands.

“Let’s go out.”

“Where?” She looks a little startled but she follows his lead and gets off the couch.

“Anywhere. Somewhere...” he widens his eyes meaningfully at her and she scrunches up her nose.

“Less awkward?” she offers. Jeff nods and she goes to grab her purse and shoes. “As long as we don’t have to drive anywhere too far. I’m sick of the car.”

“Okay, we’ll walk.”

~*~*~

The bar is the closest most familiar thing in walking distance but the sun is relentlessly hot as it rises into the noon sky and by the time they’re being greeted by a blast of musty air from the oscillating fan in the doorway Jeff and Annie are both sweaty and overheated and a little irritable.

Annie goes to sit at a table in the corner near the dart board, slouching into her seat against the wall and fanning herself with one of the laminated menus until Jeff returns from the bar, his hands full with beers and waters for both of them. She accepts the water gratefully and gulps half of it down before Jeff is even fully in his seat across from her.

“Troy and Abed are getting an apartment,” she announces abruptly as she sets the glass back down with more force than necessary.

Jeff pauses with his beer halfway to his mouth, squinting at her in confusion before his brain catches up. He nods and finishes taking a drink.

“Sounds dangerous.”

Annie circles her index finger along the rim of her glass and doesn’t look at him. “They asked me to move in with them.”

“And you said yes,” he continues for her. His voice doesn’t betray any emotion so she finally has to look up and meet his eyes as she nods. He’s smiling softly at her and she melts a little, reaching out to trace one finger down through the condensation of his beer glass near where his hand is wrapped around it.

“I just think… we haven’t really talked about…” Annie trails off, widens her eyes and gestures her hand back and forth between them.

“This isn’t a CW drama, Annie. We don’t have to talk about everything. Real people don’t have those kinds of conversations. Things just happen.” Jeff moves his hand slightly so that the backs of his fingers brush up against hers.

“Okay, but what happens now? Do I just live with you from now on? Do I unpack my stuff? Do you give me half the closet? Do I move in and co-sign your lease and start calling it our place?”

Jeff snorts indignantly. “Half the closet?!”

Annie rolls her eyes, “If you think you’d get away with not sharing fifty-fifty you’re in for a world of disappointment, mister.”

“A world of disappointment,” Jeff mouths silently and then presses his lips together to keep from smiling as Annie flushes and ducks her chin toward her shoulder. They fall silent, the sounds of the bar - the hum of running water from the kitchen, the low murmur of a soccer game playing on the dusty television mounted in the corner, the uproarious laughter from two inebriated gentleman on the other side of the room- all filtering around them.

Annie plays her hand lightly over his where it’s now pressed flat against the table, the pads of her fingers brushing over his knuckles and tracing along each vein down to his wrist.

“There’s a difference between me living with you and us living together,” she says finally.

Jeff nods. “I guess I hadn’t really thought about it.”

Annie looks up and Jeff has only a moment to register the intense spark of determination in her eyes before she’s leaning up and across the table and kissing him, holding his face in both her hands. It’s hard and fast and she’s just about to pull away when Jeff responds, sliding a hand into her hair to cup the back of her head and keep her close. He parts his lips and she hums and dips her tongue shallowly into his mouth, dropping one hand to brace herself against the table and lean further into him.

A few moments later Annie drops back into her seat, smoothing a hand over her hair and glancing around the bar with a flustered laugh.

Jeff clears his throat and knocks back the rest of his beer. “I bought a new shirt,” he finds himself blurting out, then, when Annie frowns in confusion, inwardly cursing himself for being so thrown off kilter.

“You asked earlier what I did yesterday. I bought a new shirt. And some moisturizer. And I ran into Britta.”

Confusion transforms into delight across Annie’s face as she beams at him and leans forward to rest her arms on the table, hands clasped.

Jeff laughs and mimics her pose across the table, “You going to kiss me again?”

She shrugs coyly. “Maybe. Tell me more about this new shirt.”

~*~*~

In the few hours they’re at the bar a cover of storm clouds rolls in, turning the sky a dark threatening shade of purplish gray. Annie and Jeff both groan as they step outside into the thick slog of humidity that makes everything sticky and damp. A faint rumbling of thunder booms off in the distance.

“Want to go chase lightening?” Annie quips with a little grin up at Jeff, but he only laughs and curls a hand around her elbow to urge her along as he lengthens his strides.

By the time they get home large raindrops are beginning to dot the ground and bright bolts of lightning zigzag across the sky at the horizon, but they’re both laughing breathlessly when they finally burst in through the lobby door of the building.

Annie brushes droplets of water off her bare arms with a shiver as she follows Jeff up the stairs and into the cool comfort of his air conditioned apartment where she immediately flops over backwards on the couch, her legs hanging over the armrest. She swings her legs back and forth to kick off her flip-flops and rests her hands on her stomach with a long sigh. Jeff grabs the remote control off the coffee table and carefully scoops her hair out of the way where it’s fanned out over the cushions so he can settle in next to her, one of his arms draped down at her side so that his thumb brushes every now and again against her shoulder.

They spend the rest of the afternoon and evening in a comfortable laziness, watching movies and barely even moving much for anything other than food and to change back into sweats as the rain continues to patter at the windows in a steady rhythm of background noise.

It’s only a little past nine o’clock when Jeff suddenly startles awake after dozing off for a moment in the middle of Die Hard 2, his head jerking up as he peers blearily at the too bright light of the television screen. Annie is curled up next to him on her side, head resting on a pillow against his thigh.

“We should go to bed,” Jeff murmurs as he slides his fingers through her hair. She grunts but doesn’t open her eyes so Jeff turns off the television and slides out from under her, pausing to brush his lips against the crown of her head and whisper, “Unless you want to just sleep on the couch.”

Annie only hums in response, but a few minutes later when Jeff’s brushing his teeth Annie stumbles in to join him at the counter, rubbing her eyes with one hand and fumbling for her toothbrush with the other. Jeff watches her in the mirror, smiling around his mouthful of toothpaste.

“Did you--” she starts, her words garbled until she shakes her head and leans down to spit and rinse out her mouth. “Did you want me to sleep on the couch?”

Jeff rolls his eyes and when she drops her toothbrush back into the cup by the sink he reaches out to haul her up against him, moving backwards to press her up against the counter. “What do you think,” he mutters in her ear as she laughs in delighted surprise. She tastes like the toothpaste they’ve both been using all summer since his ran out sometime in the beginning of July and he slides his tongue against hers and leans her back further against the counter.

“I thought we were going to bed,” she manages a few long moments later between kisses.

“Hmm-hmmm.” Jeff nods in agreement and starts maneuvering them toward the bedroom, stumbling around the corner and almost crashing into his door frame when Annie skims her fingers just under the waistband of his pants.

He groans and tugs her with him until the backs of his legs bump into the bed and then, trailing his lips over her neck and collarbone and the swell of her breasts as he goes, lowers himself to sit at the edge of the mattress. He grips at her hips, pulling her between his legs, fingers pressing against her ass as he nuzzles his nose down her side, making her shiver and curl her fingers into his hair. He brushes her shirt up slightly, and ducks his head down to lick along her hip above her pajama shorts and then bite gently. Annie gasps and feathers her fingers under his ear and jaw. “Maybe I should… I should sleep on the couch,” she says breathlessly.

Jeff pulls away only slightly, resting his chin on her hip to peek up at her though his eyelashes. “I can behave myself.”

His eyes are dark and hooded and he gives her a slow crooked smile before kissing the jut of her hip again. Annie swallows hard as her stomach seems to swoop down and then back up again in a quick tumble of nerves that buzzes through her fingertips. She feels drunk, silly from exhaustion and the heat of his kisses, and it’s suddenly too much.

She closes her eyes and exhales slowly and Jeff pulls back, his lips pouted out in contemplation as he regards her carefully. He runs his hands down the backs of her thighs.

“Tired?”

There’s a pause before Annie opens her eyes again. “It’s been a really long weekend.”

Jeff nods, blinks slowly, and nods again. “C’mon.” He curls a hand low on her hip and guides her back so he can stand, presses a kiss to the crown of her head, and then moves around her to the other side of the bed to turn the comforter down. Annie goes to turn the light out in the bathroom and when she returns Jeff has shucked off his sweats and is crawling into bed with a loud yawn.

She slips in next to him and curls up on her side mirroring his position, her cheek resting on one hand. Jeff’s eyes are closed and Annie watches him, her teeth worrying at her lower lip.

“Annie,” he murmurs after a moment, his mouth curving up slightly. “Go to sleep.”

He slides his hands over the sheets and tucks it under her pillow. Annie curls her fingers around his wrist and closes her eyes.

~*~*~

It’s only been four days but when Annie gets out of bed the next morning to get ready for work it feels like it’s been ages since she’s gone about her normal routine, and it’s not until she’s getting out of the shower that she remembers she never picked out her outfit the night before and made sure everything was pressed and ready to wear.

There’s a slight bit of panic mingled with the thrill of having to improv and she ends up choosing a green plaid shirt to tuck into her black pencil skirt instead of her typical blouse and blazer. Annie lets out a tiny noise of approval at herself as she does one last check in the bathroom mirror, spinning around with a little flourish to turn off the light.

She’s just about to head out, a thermos of coffee in one hand, her purse slung over her shoulder when Jeff walks out of the bedroom in nothing but a pair of briefs and she stops short in front of him.

“Oh. Hi. Good morning.”

Jeff smiles sleepily and scratches at the back of his neck. “You taking off?”

“Yup. I--” she starts toward him, arms slightly outstretched and then stops, eyes widening as she forces herself to laugh.

“No. Right. Do you--” Jeff holds his hands out to her, then looks down at them as if they’ve acted of their own will and drops his arms back down to his sides.

They both laugh again, unsure and Annie pops one foot behind her and sort of bends toward him before she realizes what she’s doing and quickly snaps out of it.

“Okay. Bye!” she yelps and runs out the door. As it shuts behind her she stops with wide horrified eyes, throwing her hands up in the air and mouthing a silent “WHAT” up at the ceiling.

~*~*~

Jeff is sitting at his desk a few hours later when his phone buzzes with a text message.

“I curtsied.”

“yes you did”

“We should probably avoid our friends for awhile.”

“good plan”

~*~*~

Jeff's barely through the door that night when Annie's barreling into him and tackling him back toward the couch, showering him with kisses everywhere she can reach.

"Is this you not being weird?"

She pauses and looks up at him through her eyelashes, her expression a mix of uncertainty and slyness. His arms tighten around her.

"I figured if there wasn't any room for awkwardness, then..."

"I can work with that."

~*~*~

“There’s a three bedroom over on Oakdale that doesn’t look too expensive.”

“Do they allow pets?” Jeff asks with a smirk in his tone as he pulls wet clothes out of the washing machine and tosses them into the dryer.

Annie side-eyes him from her perch on the counter. After making out lazily on the couch for an indiscernible amount of time she had rolled away claiming hunger and practically fluttered away to the kitchen to throw something together for dinner while Jeff went to change and discover that he was nearly out of clean shirts.

He had dragged her down to the building’s communal laundry room to keep him company but to his chagrin Annie had brought her laptop and insisted on spending her time looking up apartment listings instead of keeping him entertained.

“Why do you need three bedrooms anyway? I thought Troy and Abed were peeing themselves in excitement over getting a bunk bed.”

“Yeah, they want a spare room for…” Annie looks up from her scrutiny of the floorplan. “I’m not completely sure what. Abed said something about a simulated multi-sensory experience.”

Jeff pauses and looks up at the ceiling, eyes squinted in thought. “And in Abed speak that translates to ‘playroom.’ Have fun with that.”

“Didn’t you tell me that your condo had a spare room that you used as a closet?”

“Yes. What’s your point?” He slams the door on the dryer and presses the button to turn it on, the small room suddenly echoing with a muddled thumping as it spins to life.

“Oooh. Jeff. There’s an apartment for rent in this complex!”

His eyes go wide. “Annie. No.”

She blinks innocently at him. “But you said I could visit whenever I wanted.”

“You. I said you could visit.” He steps closer and leans in to nuzzle his nose under her ear and Annie sighs and scratches her nails through his hair while still peering down at the laptop propped up on her knee.

“Aww. It’s outside our budget anyway.”

“Too bad.” Jeff pulls the laptop from her hands and snaps it shut, sets it on the counter and curls his hand around her ankle, tugging slightly so that she uncrosses her legs. He runs one finger up the back of her calf as he moves between her legs and Annie giggles and jerks slightly when he reaches her knee. She loops her arms around his neck.

“I’ve always wondered though, how did you condense your closet back down into the tiny space you have now?”

Jeff rests his palms on the counter on either side of her and kisses the side of her neck. “Why would you bring up such a painful memory?”

Annie tilts her head to the side and lets out an exaggerated gasp. “Did you have to give up some of your button downs?”

“Stop.”

“Boots?”

“Annie.”

“Not the suits!?” She giggles and then pouts her lips at the stern look he gives her.

“Are you trying to make me cry?”

“It’s okay, Jeff. You can open up to me.”

Jeff nips at her her shoulder, nosing aside the strap of the tank top she had thrown on after work and slides his hands up to grasp at her hips, thumbs pressing into the tops of her thighs. “Shh, I’m busy.”

Annie bites at her bottom lip, her laughter hitching in her throat as she tightens her hold on him and curls her leg up to hook around his thigh. His lips trail up her neck, slow and lazy as he stops to suck lightly at the spot under her ear that makes her hum, and his hands circle around to slip under her shirt and trace up along the bumps and ridges of her spine.

“Someone could walk in,” she whispers, but tugs at his hair, pulling his mouth to hers and kissing him deeply. Annie scoots further to the edge of the counter, fitting their hips together and curling into his chest as he bows over her with an enveloping presence that spreads a silky warmth through her veins. She moans softly into his mouth and arches against him with a mindless roll of her hips.

Jeff groans, encouraging her movement with a hand pressed against her low back for just a moment before pulling back completely out of her arms and scrubbing his hands over his face as he tries to catch his breath. When he looks up and meets her eyes Annie smiles faintly, looking a little dazed and just as out of breath as him.

“So,” he exhales loudly. “Um. Tell me about the apartment. It was on Oakhurst. Hilldale. Something.”

“Um.” Annie glances down at her laptop and then back up at him. A flushing heat burns up her neck and into her cheeks as she shakes her head and hops off the counter. “I don’t remember.”

She grabs his hand and starts tugging him out of the room.

“Uh.”

“Someone could walk in,” Annie says again quietly.

Jeff’s fingers curl tighter against hers and she starts walking faster.

On the landing to the second floor they pass two of Jeff’s neighbors, an elderly couple that Annie’s chatted with in the parking lot and helped with groceries but she barely manages to chirp out a “hi” and a half hearted wave this time, her face ducked behind her hair as she and Jeff jog past them up the stairs.

His door is unlocked and he doesn’t waste any time, kicking it shut behind them, spinning her around and pressing her up against it. She murmurs his name, eyes fluttering shut as he leans in and kisses her soundly, slides a hand between her legs and cups her over her shorts. Annie sucks in a shocked gasp of air and clutches at his forearm, nails digging in and holding on, scratching up and leaving angry red lines etched along his skin.

Jeff hisses and pulls his hand away from her, circles his fingers around her wrist and pins it to door above her head. Annie arches herself toward him, hips searching him out and he grins as he reaches between them again with his free hand to pop the button on her shorts and quickly slip his hand into her underwear. Annie’s head falls back against the door with a thunk, her mouth open in a soundless moan. She rises up onto her toes with each one of his movements, her back sliding against the door and as he presses more of his weight against her she fists a hand in his shirt and curls her leg up and around his, her flip-flop dropping to the floor.

Jeff bends and trails a line of hot, wet kisses down along the soft pale skin of her neck, the vibrations of her breathy gasps buzzing at his lips. He tangles their fingers together where they’re still pinned against the door, presses his mouth to her forehead and squeezes his eyes shut.

“Annie,” he whispers a little desperately and pulls away to look at her - her eyelashes fluttering at her cheeks as she clenches her eyes tighter with each sensation he works up with his fingers, her lower lip red and pulled between her teeth. He can feel her toes curling against the back of his leg.

“Annie, look at me.”

Her hips rock into him as he slows the movement of his hand and she whimpers. It takes her a second, but her eyes finally open, hooded and dark and focused on a spot on his neck.

“Look at me,” he whispers again. She slowly meets his eyes with a little hitch of breath in her throat and he groans, moving his fingers in just the right way until she lets out a cry and jerks against him, forehead dropping against his chest as she sucks in sharp shuddering breaths.

“Jeff,” she whimpers.

He circles his arms all the way around her, turning them so that’s he’s leaned back against the door and Annie tucks her hands between them under her chin, trembling slightly as she comes down from her orgasm. As her breath evens out Jeff slides one hand up to cup the back of her head, his thumb tracing the outline of her ear. Annie sighs and pulls back to look at him.

She looks disheveled and undone - the strap of her tank top hanging off one shoulder, chest and neck red from the scratch of his stubble, lips swollen and dark - and Jeff smiles as he bends down and kisses her softly, lips just brushing over hers so that she barely responds to it at first. He pulls back and nudges his nose against hers and then kisses her again and suddenly she’s fisting her hands in his collar and pulling him lower, licking into his mouth enthusiastically.

Jeff leans over her, huffing out a surprised and amused burst of laughter that makes her grin into the kiss. She murmurs something on an exhale that sounds like “can we” and then takes a step backwards, keeping him close with her arms around his neck. A muscle in his low back twinges at the awkward way he’s bent toward her and he grunts in annoyance and in one quick movement swoops down and grabs her ass to lift her up into his arms.

Annie’s legs wrap around him as he carefully makes his way toward the bedroom, her mouth working at his jaw and her hands slipping under his shirt, pushing it up so she can get at more of his warm, bare skin, her fingers curling against his back when he lowers her to the mattress.

He crawls over her, straddling one of her thighs and kneeling up to pull his shirt off over his head and toss it aside. His jeans are low on his hips, briefs just peaking over the waistband and Annie’s hands are on him immediately. Her fingers slip up the v of muscle to his waist and he twitches under her touch, groaning and grabbing at her hips to throw her higher up onto the bed.

She laughs breathlessly and moves to pull her shirt off, suddenly desperate to be rid of her clothes as Jeff tugs at her shorts and leans down to press a kiss to her hip. In the sudden tangle her elbow connects sharply with his face and he rears back, hand held to his cheek.

“Ow. Shit.”

Annie gasps and scrambles to her knees, cupping his face and turning his head toward her.

“Oh my god. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

Jeff rubs at his temple and works his jaw from side to side. “I should have known you’d be violent. The warning signs were all there.”

She rolls her eyes with an “oh hush” and then tilts her face up to his to kiss across his cheekbone where she hit him.

“Better?” she whispers in his ear, breath warm against his skin.

“Hmmm.”

His hands wander over her back and Annie slides hers slowly down the side of his neck and chest before bending her arms up behind her back to unclasp her bra. A flush of color blossoms up Jeff’s neck and he hooks a finger in one strap to pull it down her arm, the side of his nail dragging down her skin and leaving a wake of goosebumps. He pulls the bra off the rest of the way until she’s bare in front of him and Annie bites her lip, her eyes on his face the entire time.

Jeff sweeps her hair back over her shoulder, pausing to curl his hand against her neck and press his thumb in just the right spot so that her head rolls to the side. She moans softly and then he slides his hand down to the curve of her breast, cupping her in his large palm. A shock of sensation jolts through her body in a shiver and then he’s muttering her name and hauling her up to his chest, kissing her hard and lowering them both back down to the bed.

Annie shimmies her shorts and underwear off down her legs as Jeff reaches for the bedside table, one hand fumbling for a condom and the under trying to yank down the zipper of his jeans. He curses under his breath and then Annie’s helping him, her fingers grasping and pressing and feeling up his ass and low back.

“Too many clothes,” she mutters as she wraps herself around him and uses her feet to shove his jeans and briefs off the rest of the way until he can kick them free. “I hate clothes.”

Jeff nods, “I’m instituting a mandatory nudity policy in the apartment. Effective immediately.”

“Except when we’re cooking.”

“Agreed.”

Annie bends her knees up to cradle his hips when he settles over her and presses her into the mattress with an arm curled around her shoulder. He leans in to kiss her but she breaks away with a giggle, unable to help herself and Jeff arches an eyebrow. Annie shakes her head, biting down another sound from her throat but unable to stop smiling and the questioning look on Jeff’s face fades, his features softening as his eyes trace over her.

The overwhelming affection that she feels for him constantly is reflected in his features, in the way he looks at her, in an open vulnerability that makes her swallow hard and reach up to feather her fingers along the barely visible scar above his upper lip, the slight crease in his brow, along his forehead and into his hairline. He starts to push into her then, slowly, and Annie goes still underneath him, holding her breath, her nails digging into the back of his neck.

“Baby,” he grits out as he slides deeper.

Annie nods, whimpering brokenly, “you’re so... Jeff... good...”

Jeff closes his eyes, dropping his forehead to her chest. “Fuck.”

He’s never been so unraveled by sex before but his mind is filled with this fuzzy white noise, his vision tunneled until all he can see and feel and hear is Annie. She fits against him, curling into the contours of his body, her small, soft, frame belied by the fierceness with which she holds onto him, her arms bent up under his so that her palms are pressed flat to his back near his shoulder blades. It holds him together, keeps him from completely flying apart as he moves over her.

Their mouths press together in a wet heat of muffled groans and gasping breaths until he reaches back and tugs her knee up higher and she throws her head back against the pillow, a loud moan tearing from her throat as Jeff kisses her forehead, her nose, her cheeks, down the exposed arch of her neck. Annie clutches at him, nails dragging against his skin and he tugs her earlobe between his teeth, murmuring to her in an incomprehensible mess of words as she shudders around him.

Her entire body seems to melt into the mattress as she comes down from it, but she encourages him on, hooking her ankles behind his back and curling her arm up to cup the back of his head, tugging at his hair when he starts to move faster, his hips jerking erratically. She presses her other hand against his low back and mouths along the damp curve of his shoulder, whimpering into his skin as he tenses and then drops heavy against her with a faint moan.

The room is quiet and dark, the only light coming in from the living room and slanting over the bed, throwing everything else into shadow. Annie can feel the light against her eyelids but she turns her face into Jeff, continuing to hold onto him as tight as she can until his weight over her is too much.

She groans, shifting her body as much as possible and Jeff lifts his head, smiling down at her. His eyes are hooded and tired and he presses a lingering kiss to her forehead before rolling off her and flopping onto the other side of the bed. Annie stretches her legs out leans up onto her elbows, looking down her own naked body. Jeff blindly reaches his arm out until it’s nudged against her side and Annie slides her hand down his forearm, brushing her fingertips along his wrist and palm absentmindedly.

“You left your clothes downstairs.”

Jeff huffs out a laugh and nods slowly up at the ceiling as he curls his hand around hers to still her and twine their fingers together.

“I can buy new ones.”

~*~*~*~

At around eleven o’clock the next day Annie receives a text that says simply, “lunch?” and an hour later she’s straddling Jeff’s lap in the front seat of his car with her skirt rucked up around her waist as he plants a trail of kisses down her neck. They’re parked in a darkened corner of the parking garage in the building where he works but Annie still looks up every few minutes through the back window to make sure no one’s around.

“This is going to be a problem at school,” Jeff groans against her skin. “If you thought I was easily distracted before...”

Annie pulls back and shakes her head, “Jeff,” she says warningly. “You managed just fine before.”

He raises an eyebrow and she grins, playing her fingers down his loosened collar.

“You were practically writing my name in your notebook surrounded by little hearts, Jeff. Everyone knew it.” She draws a little heart shape over his chest, trying to hold back laughter at the look of indignation on his face. “I half expected to get a note from you asking, ‘Do you like me? Check yes or no.’”

Jeff growls, grasping at her hips and tickling up her sides so that she shrieks with giddy laughter and tries to jerk away. He only strengthens his hold on her and then shifts up and, with as much grace as someone his height can manage, hauls her with him into the backseat. Annie gasps as he lays her out and crawls over her, leaning down to kiss her.

“It was cute,” she murmurs in between kisses. “Admit it. You were so in love with me.”

“Oh I’ll show you cute, baby,” he says low and threatening, biting at her shoulder, but it only makes her laugh harder.

~*~*~

They avoid their friends as much as possible over the next few weeks.

Annie gets together with Troy and Abed to apartment hunt and Jeff has dinner at the Bennett’s one night but for the most part they don’t leave the apartment for much at all besides work and trips to the grocery store.

When Annie gets a text from Britta inviting her to go shopping on Saturday she quickly taps out an excuse about being busy and then throws her phone aside. She’s sprawled across the bed on her stomach wearing one of Jeff’s tee-shirts and a pair of panties while Jeff does push-ups in front of the doorway to the bathroom. Her eyes glaze over appreciatively as they trace over the curve of his low back and the tensed hard muscles in his arms contracting with each down and up. Her phone buzzes again with another text but she ignores it.

~*~*~

The muscles in Jeff’s stomach contract and twitch under Annie’s mouth and she peers up through her eyelashes, pleased at the slack jawed look on his face. He’s propped up on one elbow, his other hand smoothing over her arm, grasping a little harder whenever she does anything in particular he likes. Annie smiles as she continues crawling backwards over his body, her arms braced on either side of him, but as she slides her tongue slowly along his hip someone knocks at the front door and they both freeze.

“Ignore it,” Jeff grits out.

“Jeff! It’s us!” Troy’s voice echoes in from behind the door and Annie’s eyes go wide as she lurches up and sits back on her heels to wrap her arms over her breasts.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Jeff’s head drops back to the pillow and Annie holds a finger up to her lips.

“They’ll go away in a minute,” she whispers as she cranes her head back to look around the corner toward the front door. It’s silent for a long moment and they’re both breathing a sigh of relief, Jeff reaching to wrap his hands around Annie’s waist and pull her back into him when there’s another knock.

“We know you’re there! Your cars are in the parking lot! And Jeff we know the route you take to go jogging!”

Annie rolls her eyes and Jeff clenches his jaw as he struggles to sit up with her still straddled over his legs. “These are the people we choose to be friends with, Annie.”

“Why do you sound like you’re blaming me for that?!” she whispers back indignantly.

“It’s not normal. That’s not normal.” He waves his hand out toward the door.

“I’ll just use my key then.”

It’s Abed’s voice this time and Annie and Jeff both go scrambling up and off the bed, Jeff cursing under his breath and searching the ground for his underwear. Annie turns around a couple times in half circles frantically and then darts, still naked, out of his bedroom and into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

“Annie!” Jeff whisper-shouts at her, quickly yanking on his jeans and half-tripping out to the living room. The shower turns on and he gapes and throws his hands up in the air, looking around incredulously as if someone in the vicinity is going to agree with him about how wrongfully he’s just been betrayed.

He goes to unlock and yank open the front door, one hand braced on the door frame. Abed and Troy stand there on the other side smiling but he just glares at them, jaw clenched. “How the hell did you get a key to my apartment?”

“Oh I don’t have one. I just knew that would get you to open the door.”

Jeff’s mouth sets into an even deeper frown and Troy eyes his bare chest. “Were you busy?”

“I was taking a nap,” Jeff practically growls.

“Cool cool cool.” Abed produces a stack of papers from his bag and holds them out to Jeff who doesn’t take them, just continues glaring, unwilling to play nice.

“As you know we will soon be taking up residence with our mutual friend Annie,” Troy says smiling and Jeff breaks slightly to squint suspiciously at the odd formality.

“And we have a quick questionnaire we’d like you to fill out about her roommate habits,” Abed finishes.

With a long, burdened sigh Jeff finally reaches out to grab the stack of papers. “Guys this is like twenty pages. You’ve known her for three years.”

“You can’t be too careful, Jeff.” Troy leans in, “Have you seen Single White Female?”

Jeff stares at him. “Was that all you needed?”

“Yeah, we just--”

But the last of Troy’s sentence is cut off as Jeff slams the door. He takes a beat to feel bad at the slightly hurt and confused look on both of their faces, then rolls his eyes and throws the questionnaire on the couch.

The shower is still running and Jeff raises an eyebrow and goes over to knock once and then open the door. He’s greeted by a warm cloud of steam.

“Thanks a lot for that, Judas... Are you actually taking a shower?”

Annie peeks her head out from around the shower curtain. Her hair is wet and slicked back and there are large droplets of water dotting her shoulders and sliding down her arms.

“I didn’t know how long they were going to be here. It would have been weird if I had walked out and didn’t look like I had taken a shower.”

“Yeah, that would have been weird.”

Annie eyes him. “You could take a shower with me,” she says sweetly.

Jeff smirks but he’s already kicking the door closed behind him.

“I’m just being practical. You’re going to have to take one later anyway.” Annie shrugs and disappears behind the shower curtain again as Jeff shoves off his jeans.

“So you’re into water conservation now,” he says as he steps in with her. It’s a tight fit and he steps up right behind her and pulls her closer, sliding his hands around to the slick skin of her stomach.

“It’s an important issue.” Annie’s head drops back to his chest and she closes her eyes and arches against him before turning around to meet him.

“Besides, you can use the money you save on your water bill for that new hair product you said you wanted to try.”

Her hand slips down his torso and he groans.

“Such a thoughtful girlfriend.”

A half an hour later Annie’s standing in front of the mirror, wrapped only in a towel, smoothing lotion over her arms and legs.

“So what did they want,” she calls to Jeff who is in his bedroom getting dressed.

“What?”

“Troy and Abed.”

“Oh.” Jeff tugs a t-shirt on and scrubs his fingers through his hair as he walks out to the living room and grabs the questionnaire from the couch.

“They’re vetting you.”

He leans into the doorway of the bathroom and smirks as she whirls around and grabs it out of his hands.

“What?!” Annie flips through the packet and then looks back at the front page. “Number one, what’s her blood type?” She looks up, her eyes narrowed. “Why would they need to know that?”

“Hey, you’re the one that wants to live with them.”

“Does she sing bedtime songs?”

“Well that one’s pretty cute. Although I’ve yet to hear a single bedtime song this entire summer so that’s going to be a mark against you.” Jeff widens his eyes playfully.

Annie frowns at him and waves the packet in the air. “You’re not answering any of these.”

“I don’t know.” He grabs it from her hand and flips to the middle. “I like this one: is she a good kisser.”

“What,” she gasps as Jeff steps back and turns toward the kitchen.

“I guess I’ll say yes to that one. Huh. What’s her favorite sexual position? That seems a little personal.”

“It does not say that.” Annie follows after him, darting around him and planting herself in his path.

“It does, right here.” Jeff holds the packet above his head just out of reach of her outstretched arms. “You can’t see that? How small are you?”

“Jeff!” she shrieks, jumping for it and then growling at him when he just holds it higher and gives her a shit-eating grin. “You’re such a--” With as much force as she can muster she throws her entire body into him so that he stumbles backwards against the couch with an “oomf” of surprise. His arms flail out to the side to catch himself and Annie grabs the packet from his hand, marches into the kitchen and dumps the entire thing in the trash can.

The knot holding her towel around her has come loose in the exchange and she clutches it to her chest as she walks back past Jeff with a haughty flip of her hair. He rubs at his chest where she had knocked her shoulder into him, wincing.

“Jesus, have you been secretly practicing that with the football team?”

But as she disappears back into the bathroom he huffs out a small laugh, then flops over the back of the couch to stretch out on his back. He yawns loudly and folds his hands over his chest, a small smile twitching at his lips.

~*~*~

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Annie?”

Annie pulls her shoulders back and and narrows her eyes at Shirley as the waiter appears at the head of their table just then with the food. She waits to answer until he’s gone.

“Yes. I don’t just do things without thinking them through first, Shirley. Living with Troy and Abed will be fun.”

Britta snorts. “Sure. They’re fun when you don’t have to be the one to take them home and buy them food and make sure they don’t pee on the carpet.”

Shirley’s face turns down into a frown of disgust, but then her eyes dart up to the ceiling as she thinks about it and nods in agreement. Annie rolls her eyes at both of them.

“Britta, they’re not cats.”

“She’s right though. I don’t want to even think about what kinds of shenanigans those boys are going to get up to living together.” Shirley purses her lips together and shakes her head as if to ward off any such thoughts.

“Oh please, remember that blanket fort they built? Or their fake news show? That was adorable.”

“Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Living with someone is completely different. I moved in with a friend in New York for a few months and didn’t find out until three months later that he made all his money by mugging women on the Subway. I thought he just liked purses.”

Shirley and Annie both gape at Britta.

“What? He was a nice guy.”

Annie sighs, “ Well, I’ve lived with Jeff for three months and I’ve yet to find his illegal purse collection.”

She regrets the words as soon as they’re out of her mouth. Shirley and Britta exchange meaningful glances and Annie braces herself.

“Speaking of Jeff,” Shirley starts slowly but then the table jostles and her head jerks in Britta’s direction, glaring her down with fiery eyes. Britta shakes her head tightly and Shirley widens her eyes and tilts her head in Annie’s direction.

They continue to communicate silently through a series of increasingly erratic gestures until Britta brings her hands up and mimes strangling someone and Shirley lifts her fork and points it across the table.

Annie makes a noise of disgusted exasperation. “Oh my god, stop. If you have something to say just say it.”

Britta and Shirley both go still, eyes locked on each other. Shirley sets down her fork and folds her hands on the table in front of her. “Did… you… have something to say?” she asks sweetly.

Annie glances between the two women. Britta’s face is passive and doesn’t betray a lot as she fiddles with the napkin in her lap. Shirley nods toward her encouragingly.

“No…” Annie wets her lips. “Not… yet.”

Both her friends nod and return silently to their food but their gazes meet again over the table and there’s a visible flicker of concern there between them that sends a sudden wave of affection rolling through Annie's chest.

She smiles widely and sighs, “I love you guys.”

Britta looks up and then away, flustered, while Shirley coos. “Aw, that’s nice. I love you too pumpkin.”

“Please,” Britta scoffs, “She’s just trying to butter us up so we’ll help her move again.”

But she sits up a little straighter and when Annie catches her eye Britta gives her a tiny smile and a nod.

~*~*~

The Friday before Annie moves Jeff gets out of the shower to find that she’s already left for work. He runs his hand through his still wet hair as he follows the aroma of freshly brewed coffee to the kitchen with only a towel wrapped around his waist.

On the counter is a single green post-it that reads, “Do you like me? Check yes or no.”

Jeff snorts and rolls his eyes but he’s smiling as he uses the pen she’s left to put one large check mark in the ‘yes’ box. He pauses and surveys the mess of color covering every inch of the fridge, then starts peeling off every single post-it note until the stainless steel is visible and empty for the first time in weeks. He presses the new note above the water dispenser, running his thumb along it firmly to make sure it sticks.

~*~*~

It’s nearing midnight that night when Annie sighs loudly and flops over onto her back, punching at her pillow a couple times until it’s shaped to her liking and kicking her feet to loosen up the sheets around her legs. She stares up at the ceiling.

“Annie.” Jeff’s voice is gruff and a little annoyed.

“Sorry,” she grumbles. “I keep thinking about all the things I have to do tomorrow.”

The mattress shifts as Jeff turns over onto his side and clears his throat. He squints at her through the darkness.

“I can go sleep on the couch,” Annie whispers a little reluctantly and even though she can’t see him clearly she can practically hear his eye-roll. She smiles.

“I have a better idea,” he says after a moment.

She giggles, “We already did that. It didn’t help.”

“Hey, I can have ideas that don’t involve sex.” Jeff sits up and scrubs his hands over his face and then throws the sheets of his legs as he climbs out of bed. “They aren’t my best ideas. But I have them.” He flips on the light and goes to his dresser.

“What--” Annie stops and winces, covering her eyes from the sudden blinding brightness.

“You should go put on a bathing suit.” He turns and eyes her lasciviously. “Unless you want to go skinny dipping.”

“What--” But Annie interrupts herself again and smiles slowly as her brain catches up to what he’s saying.

Ten minutes later they’re sneaking again over the locked gate of the pool and slipping into the chilly pool water, both of them shivering as they submerge up to their chests. There’s no moon but the lights from the parking lot cast long shadows over the water and Annie tries to stay in the deep end where it’s the darkest, keeping her movements gentle and quiet, constantly aware of every sound that she hears from around the apartment complex.

She warms up as she continues treading water, unable to touch her toes to the bottom of the pool without dunking her head and Jeff floats around her making more noise than he should with each splash and kick. Even as her eyes adjust to the dark she can hardly make out his face and something about that, the security in not being able to see the visible way he always reacts to her makes Annie start talking.

“I was scared.”

Her turns toward her with a sigh. “Annie we’re not going to get in trouble. I promise.”

“No. I meant about.” She stops and swims toward the edge of the pool, grasping onto it with her fingertips. “You make me happy,” she whispers.

Jeff moves closer behind her until she can feel his hand at her low back. He folds his arms over the deck next to her, resting his chin on his shoulder and smiling at her softly.

Annie traces a finger over his shoulder. “It sounds stupid. I’ve never…” She huffs out a frustrated breath at not being unable to articulate herself. “I’ve never really been satisfied. And I don’t know if I know how to be.”

She pushes away from the edge and sinks down into the water until it reaches her chin. Jeff nods slowly. “You afraid I’m not going to be enough for you, babe?”

His tone is light but Annie can hear a nervous twinge laced throughout his words and she moves back in behind him, pressing herself against his back.

“No. That’s not it.” She leans her head against his shoulder, circling one hand around to rest a palm on his stomach and Jeff shivers into her touch.

“I think,” he starts, before shaking his head slightly and gathering himself. “I guess it was the opposite for me. I never wanted to want anything.”

“You wanted to be a lawyer.”

Jeff snorts. “But I didn’t want to want it. Why do you think I cheated my way in?”

Annie nuzzles her nose against the side of his neck as she thinks about it. “Because if you worked for it, then you’d want it more? But if you cheated you could at least pretend it didn’t mean anything?”

He doesn’t say anything at first but he spreads his hand over hers where it’s still pressed to his stomach, interlocking their fingers.

“Yeah,” he breaths out, then turns in her arms, pushing away from the wall of the pool so that they slide through the water, waves rippling out around them. “You know, you weren’t such a bad roommate after all.”

Annie beams at him and curls her arms around his neck. “We should do it again sometime.”

“Absolutely.”


	12. Chapter 12

When Jeff’s alarm goes off at eight o’clock that morning, the rhythmic beeping startling him from sleep, he reaches out and smacks it off the nightstand in a haze of confusion. “It’s Saturday,” he mumbles as he rolls over, reaching for Annie. But his hands only come up with an empty expanse of cool sheets. He blinks a couple times, a muscle in his jaw twitching, and then growls and shoves his pillow over his head. 

They had been up late into the middle of the night, floating lazily around the pool and drifting easily between long silences and too much talking. Jeff rolls his shoulders back at the sense memory of her wrapped around him, locking into him such a sense of security that the words had just poured out of him. Unstructured sentences tumbling from his mouth for no purpose other than to just talk. To her.

The mattress shifts and Jeff peeks out from under the comforting darkness of his pillow to see Annie sitting next to him and leaning over to pick the alarm clock off the ground. Her hair is pulled into a neat ponytail and she’s already dressed in a t-shirt, yoga pants and pair of pink Converse.

“Britta and Shirley are going to be here in a few minutes and I want to get an early start before it gets too hot. I set your alarm for you,” she answers in response to his unasked question.

“Remind me not to thank you.” He flops over onto his back, flinging his arm over his face overdramatically. 

“Don’t be a baby.” Annie slides her hand over his bare chest, scratching lightly, and then rests her palm on the mattress so she’s leaning over him. “Jeff,” she whispers close to his ear so that he shivers and reaches blindly for her.

“Call them and tell them we need an hour. Or two.” His arms circle around her to make her stay and for a moment she relaxes and peppers a few soft kisses along the curve of his shoulder, but then she pats his hip and shrugs away. Jeff’s arms drop to his side.

“C’mon. If you don’t get up I’ll send Shirley in to sing her ‘Rise and Shine’ song. I know how much you loooooooove that,” Annie sing-songs out the door.

Jeff mutters a few choice obscenities under his breath as he watches the space she’s disappeared from in the doorway.

Under the threat of a cheerful and God-loving Shirley he manages to drag himself out to the living room a few minutes later, yawning widely and tugging on his jeans but leaving them unzipped and low on his hips. He has his shirt in one hand and he’s about to pull it over his head when he stops short. The pile of boxes containing Annie’s belongings has migrated toward the front door, stacked neatly and all of them closed tight with packing tape. The now empty corner they had taken up space in all summer by his television looks strangely bare.

“How long have you been up?”

“Since about five-thirty. I couldn’t sleep,” Annie calls from the kitchen.

Jeff fidgets with the shirt in his hands. Three months ago he hadn’t even been looking for a roommate, had been perfectly content on his own because other people just got in the way and made a mess of everything. But now that she’s leaving, everything packed up so neatly, it’s starting to hit him with an alarming clarity that makes his chest ache, how large a space she’s actually leaving behind. 

It makes him feels small, like he doesn’t fit here anymore either.

He scrubs one hand over his hair and casts a frown at the empty corner before locking himself in the bathroom. 

The counter has been cleared of all her toiletries and it’s not until he’s patting his face dry, water still dripping off his chin, that he notices Annie’s left her toothbrush sitting next to his in the cup by the sink. He glances toward the shower and even though her shampoo and conditioner are gone there’s a pink razor sitting at the edge of the bathtub.

“You’re an idiot,” he tells his reflection.

Annie’s sitting on the counter in the kitchen holding a mug of coffee in one hand, thumbing at her phone with the other. I made--” she starts, but Jeff cuts her off, stepping between her legs and taking the coffee from her hand as he curls his fingers against her neck and leans in to kiss her with a demanding urgency. She makes a high pitched squeak in her throat but fists her hands in his shirt and tilts her head up to meet him with equal pressure.

He releases her a moment later, hands sliding down to her hips and over her thighs. Annie blinks up at him questioningly and touches the back of her neck like she’s not sure what to do with her hands. 

“I hope you’re not expecting to ever use my shampoo,” Jeff adds as he reaches around to grab a piece of toast off her plate. “That shit’s expensive.”

Annie starts to frown but her eyes flicker toward the bathroom and her cheeks go slightly pink as her face relaxes into understanding. She nods once at him and then sighs loudly and bats at his hand.

“Get your own breakfast.”

“You’re not even going to feed me today?” he asks with an indignation that is belied by his wide grin as he hands her coffee back and leans over to pour himself a cup. Annie watches him, an affectionate softening in her eyes. Her lips part as if she’s going to say something but instead she reaches up to fix an errant piece of hair over his ear, fingers lingering and feathering down the side of his neck. 

They’re quiet for a long moment until someone knocks loudly at the door and Jeff tilts his head back with a groan. “Please tell me those are the surprise movers you’ve hired in order to avoid subjecting your friends to a Saturday of manual labor.” 

“Don’t whine.” Annie slips away from him and out of the kitchen and Jeff follows after, scowling into his mug.

“Finally. You better have coffee,” Britta bursts into the apartment before Annie even has a chance to open the door all the way, her words garbled around the blueberry muffin she’s shoved in her mouth. She grabs the mug out of Jeff’s hand as she passes him.

Shirley remains in the doorway, her eyes a little dark. “I made muffins.”

“So I see from the trail of crumbs Little Red Robin Hood just sprayed all over my carpet.” Jeff looks up from frowning at his now empty hand.

“That was Hansel and Gretel, dummy,” Britta calls from the kitchen.

Annie smiles in thanks at Shirley and waves her in, taking the platter of muffins from her hands. Jeff pauses, looking caught, and then scoffs. “Whatever. Different stories, same shitty kids learning pointless life lessons.”

Shirley and Annie eye each with similar looks of exasperation.

“This is going to be a long day,” Shirley mutters.

~*~*~

After a thorough search of all the apartments to rent in the larger Greendale area it had been decided that they wouldn’t be able to afford a three-bedroom apartment, much to Abed and Troy’s dismay. There had been discussion about fashioning a blanket fort into another room but Annie had shut down that idea immediately with what Troy deemed her “scary eyes.” In the end she compromised and gave them free reign of the walk-in linen closet along with an offhanded remark about size not mattering when imagination was involved.

Abed had narrowed his eyes at that, knowing she was bullshitting, but when they arrive at the apartment that morning he had goes directly to the closet, scans it like he’s taking mental measurements and then proclaims it perfect. He and Troy step inside and shut the door behind them.

“I knew it.” Shirley shakes her head with a sigh and a pleading look heavenward.

“Oh, no. Count me out. The last time I played Seven Minutes in Heaven I got puke down my shirt and my hair stuck in a bicycle spoke.”

Everyone stares at Britta and she holds up her hands in a defensive motion.

“It wasn’t my puke.”

~*~*~

It takes four cars, Andre’s borrowed truck, and two trips to the storage unit Annie’s been renting all summer to get everything to the new apartment. Troy and Abed come with minimal baggage – clothes, a vast DVD collection, two bean bag chairs, the new bunk bed they won’t stop talking about, a wide screen TV, and a assortment of homemade costumes the Dean would be jealous of – but Annie has enough to outfit an apartment entirely on her own. By the time the majority of her furniture is moved in to the third floor apartment everyone is exhausted and grouchy and covered in a thin sheen of sweat.

Her mattress is the last thing that needs to be carried up and Jeff and Troy are left in charge of wrestling it out of the truck and up the stairs as everyone else begins to unpack boxes in the apartment. They make it to the landing of the second floor and are starting up the next flight of stairs, Troy at the head and Jeff at the back, his shoulder braced against the mattress.

“Troy,” Jeff grunts. “Lift and pull.”

He’s met with a pitiful whimpering. “I can’t. My arms aren’t listening to my brain anymore.”

“Just…” Jeff tries to move forward a little, his own arms feeling weak and jelly-like. “Fuck it. Put it down.” Troy obeys without question and they both let the mattress fall out of their hands. It hits the floor with a thud, wobbles unsteadily on its side and then flops forward to the ground. The ensuing noise echoes up the stairwell. 

Troy leans heavily against the wall. “I feel dizzy. I can’t feel my feet.” His eyes widen as he looks down and sighs in relief. “Oh good, they’re still there.” 

“Troy. Shut up.” Jeff drops to the mattress and stretches out on top of it and Troy practically melts down next to him, planting face first and letting out a muffled moan.

A few moments later they hear someone call out from the top of the stairs. “Jeff? Are you guys okay?” Neither of them answers and Annie peeks her head around the corner, eyes narrowing when she spots them.

“Ew. You guys. The floor’s dirty.”

“And that’s why we’re laying on the mattress,” Jeff says without opening his eyes.

Troy lifts his head and cranes his neck back to look at her. “Sorry, Annie.” His face is flushed, sweat beading his hairline, and his eyes are glazed over. Annie watches him warily.

“You’re not going to throw up, are you?”

“Don’t worry about me, Annie. I’ll be fine,” Troy lets out a long-suffering sigh and rests his head back down.

Jeff scoffs. “She’s not worried about you. She’s worried about the mattress.”

Annie huffs, fists clenched at her sides as she winds herself up to tell him off but Jeff lifts himself up to lean back on his elbows and shoot a perfectly arched eyebrow raise in her direction. She glares at him and the corner of his mouth lifts into a crooked smile that means he’s about to enter lawyer mode.

“Annie. It’s nearly a hundred degrees outside. Over the last few hours we have carried up two of your absurdly heavy dressers, no less than twenty boxes of what appear to be every schoolbook you’ve used since Kindergarten, and enough clothes to outfit an entire Banana Republic. We’re tired.”

Troy chooses that moment to roll over onto his back, arms splayed out at his sides. “This is worse than two-a-day football practices when the coach wouldn’t let us take water breaks.”

“But,” Annie scrunches up her nose. “You guys are all sweaty.”

“Hey, if your mattress doesn’t have a little bit of sweat on it then you’re using it wrong. Amiright?” Jeff grins down at Troy, who nods knowingly, and then back up at Annie. He waggles his eyebrows and she lets out an exasperated sigh before turning around and flouncing back up the stairs. 

Jeff’s almost positive though that he can see the hint of a smile twitching at her lips before she disappears.

A moment later two water bottles come tumbling and rolling down the stairs toward them, and Troy has to duck and roll away as one flies towards his face and crashes into the opposite wall.

“Thank you!” Jeff yells into the stairwell, trying to school the laughter out of his voice.

~*~*~

They eventually get the mattress all the way up the stairs and into the apartment and Jeff goes to work setting up the bed frame while Troy slips back into the linen closet, from which a series of odd hammering and electric power drill noises emanate sporadically for the rest of the morning. 

Britta sets up her ipod to play while she and Shirley begin to unpack boxes in the living room and Annie hums along to the steady stream of classic rock as she goes to work on the kitchen, unwrapping her mix-matched assortment of thrift store purchased dishes from their carefully packaged boxes. 

“Your bed is assembled, Milady,” Jeff drawls as he drapes himself into the doorway of the tiny kitchen. Annie smiles and pauses in what she’s doing to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. 

“You sure you don’t want to throw it at my head again?” His fingers brush purposefully against her wrist as he takes it from her.

“I didn’t throw it at your head. I tossed it. Gently. Milord,” she adds with an extra bite that makes Jeff grin.

He gulps down about half the bottle, his eyes darting over towards the noise in the living room where Shirley and Britta are bickering over music selection. Jeff notes that only Shirley’s visible from where he’s standing and takes a step further into the kitchen out of view. Annie’s returned to her task and has her back to him and she jolts in surprise when he crowds her further into the counter.

“Jeff,” she murmurs warningly. 

He sets down his water bottle and circles an arm around her to press his palm low on her stomach. “Don’t care,” he whispers as he leans in to brush a kiss at her neck.

Annie tilts her head to the side for a moment, closing her eyes and relaxing into him and it’s only when Britta starts singing loudly to the music that Jeff pulls away reluctantly. 

“No!” he shouts towards the living room and leans back against the opposite counter with his arms folded over his chest. 

Annie looks over her shoulder at him and shakes her head disapprovingly. 

“You could make yourself useful.”

“You know, I seem to remember some kind of deal at the beginning of the summer about me not helping in any kind of moving process.”

“You offered this time.”

“No. You assumed.”

“Well you didn’t not offer.”

Jeff smirks. “Just like you didn’t not--” He jerks away as Annie cuts him off with a backhanded swat to his stomach. “… NOT enjoy the comforts of my apartment all summer. And this is how you reward me.”

“I thought you were going to say something dirty.”

He tsks. “Wow. You really need to get your mind out of the gutter.”

Annie only raises a skeptical eyebrow and turns away from him with a little hum. Jeff watches her for a moment as she kneels down to open a box at her feet, then groans dramatically and pushes away from the counter to help. She hands him up a dish and he sets it on one of the cupboard shelves. 

“What’s the rush to unpack? It’s not like the apartment’s going anywhere.”

“I’m tired of living out of boxes.” Annie spreads out her hands in front of her, appraising the kitchen from her vantage point with a nod of satisfaction “And it’ll be nice to be in a place that really feels like mine.”

Jeff nods slowly, considering as he takes another dish from her. “You could have,” he trails off. There’s a flush of embarrassed warmth up his neck and from the corner of his eye he can see Annie watching him. He shrugs, “You could have used my closet. Or dresser. You could have asked. I might have said yes.”

“Might have?” she asks softly and he still refuses to look at her until she pokes him and walks her fingers up his leg, tickling lightly when they slip under his shirt. He jerks and grabs her hand, pulling her up to her feet and tugging her close, trying to look mad and failing helplessly. Annie grins back.

“Besides,” Jeff clears his throat as he releases her. “You commandeered the rest of the apartment pretty fast.”

“I did not!”

“You rearranged my kitchen without even asking.”

Annie waves her hands dismissively. “I just moved a few things around. I couldn’t reach anything before.”

“Oh. So, this is going to be a problem then?” Jeff’s eyes widen with a mischievous glint as he bites at his lower lip and points at the cupboard where’s he’s placed all the dishes on the highest shelf that Annie wouldn’t be able to reach even on tip toes.

“Jeff. Put them back.” 

“Hey. You didn’t not tell me to put them there.”

“How old are you?” 

Jeff raises an eyebrow and then quickly darts toward her to lift her up with his hands under her arms so that she’s eye level with the top shelf, her legs dangling a foot off the ground. She yelps and squirms in his arms but he holds her steady.

“Guess you’ll have to keep me around. Or we could just get you a footstool.”

Annie’s face warms pleasantly as laughter bubbles out of her. “You’ll just look for any excuse to work out your biceps.”

“Ahem.”

Jeff spins around, dropping Annie back to her feet as he goes to find Britta and Shirley standing on the other side of the counter, each wearing a varying array of judgment and amusement on her face. He coughs and points at the cabinet. “I was just helping Annie unpack.”

“I’m sure you were,” Shirley intones doubtfully as Annie busies herself stuffing all the loose packing paper back into the empty boxes and Jeff just continues standing awkwardly in the middle of the kitchen with his arms at his sides. 

Britta rolls her eyes. “Whatever. We’re going to go pick up some food.”

“Oh great!” Annie chirps without turning around. “Thanks guys!” 

Jeff waves them off, managing to plaster a large smile on his face when Shirley throws a stern backwards glance at him over her shoulder and as the door shuts behind them he lets out a long breath. 

“They’re going to kill me.”

“Aw,” Annie reaches up and touches his cheek. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”

“And what makes you think they won’t be after you, too?”

She only laughs in response.

A few moments later as Jeff is moving all the dishes to a lower shelf Troy emerges from the linen closet, walking with stiff, jerky movements. He has a tie looped around his head and he’s covered head to toe in boxes – smaller boxes open on both ends around his arms and legs, his feet encased in shoe boxes, and one large box around his torso that he’s cut holes in for his arms and legs and filled to the brim with packing peanuts so that his head looks like it’s floating on a sea of styrofoam.

He looks like a giant cardboard robot. 

Annie and Jeff both stare at him.

“Did I hear someone say they were going to get food? I’m starving.”

“What… is that?” Jeff manages.

Troy looks down and grins. “I’m Robo-Geisha.” 

“Giesha?” Annie wrinkles her nose in confusion.

“Like a ninja.” Troy makes a karate chopping motion that sends a handful of packing peanuts cascading towards the floor.

“That’s not what a…” Annie starts hesitantly, but Jeff shakes his head at her, his eyes alight with potential amusement. He leans back against the counter and assesses Troy with a mocking seriousness. 

“So what are your powers? If it fits it ships?”

“Do you offer overnight delivery?” Annie joins in with a giggle.

Troy’s eyes narrow. “What are your powers? Pooping all over parties?”

Jeff snorts and Annie can tell from the look on his face that he’s about to say something that has the power to make Troy cry so she settles her hand on his arm, squeezing lightly.

“Sooooooo, who’s looking forward to school starting next week?” She does a little shimmy of excitement but Troy and Jeff both stare at her, incredulous. She backs away from Jeff slightly. “Wrong audience.”

Troy shrugs. “The History of Ice Cream should be cool.” His face goes a little dreamy. “Apparently you start each day chanting, ‘I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream’, the midterm is test to see how much ice cream you can eat without getting a brain freeze, and the final is a public debate about the best flavor.”

“Cookies and cream,” Jeff and Annie both say at the same time, their eyes darting toward each other in amusement.

“Uh, pretty sure it’s Rocky Road, dummies.” 

At that moment Abed comes bursting out of the linen closet, wrapped up to his neck in brown packing tape, a tape dispenser in each hand. There’s a tinfoil mask covering half his face. “Ah-ha! Robo-Geisha. It is I, your nemesis, Stickpuncher. You’re about to find yourself in a… sticky situation.” He punches one of the dispensers in Troy’s direction.

“Jeff and Annie ruined it,” Troy sulks and Abed lets down his guard and pulls his mask off with a frown.

“You guys are wasting all my tape,” Annie whines and then gasps as she finally notices the words “bedding and pillows” written in her handwriting on the back of the box around Troy’s torso. “Are those my boxes?”

Abed nods. “We ran out.” As Annie’s eyes get continually wider he adds quickly, “Don’t worry. We left everything on your bedroom floor.”

Annie’s fists clench at her sides as she draws herself up and squares her shoulders. Everyone backs up away from her to a safe distance. Jeff shakes his head at Troy and Abed. 

“Man, someone didn’t read the Roommate manual.”

“Maybe if someone had filled out their questionnaire,” Troy hisses out of the corner of his mouth.

“It’s okay.” Annie’s taking deep breaths. “It’ll just help me unpack faster. But.” She points at Troy and Abed in turn. “We will be having a conversation about boundaries in the near future.”

Troy and Abed both look suitably chagrined but just then the front door slams open and Pierce appears in the hallway wearing a loud Hawaiian shirt, a puka shell necklace and a deep orange tan. He spreads his arms wide. “I’m back, bitches.” 

“Pierce!” Annie greets him happily.

“Pierce,” Jeff grumbles as he follows her out of the kitchen.

There’s a tall woman behind Pierce wearing turquoise leggings, a gauzy black blouse and a line of bracelets up each arm that jangle whenever she moves. The only picture they’d seen of her previously had been blurry so it’s surprising to see the lines around her eyes and the spattering of gray in the strawberry blonde hair she’s pulled back into a butterfly clip. 

Pierce drapes his arm around her. “Everyone, this is my wife, Connie.

Connie clasps her hands together, her long manicured nails clacking against each other “And of course you all don’t need any introduction. Pierce has already told me everything about you.”

“Yeah, but how much of it was right,” Jeff mumbles under his breath.

“You must be Ay-bed. And Annie.” Connie pauses and points between them. “Look at that. We’re one step closer to peace in the Middle East right here.” 

Annie and Abed look at each other in confusion but Connie barrels on, grabbing Annie’s hand and holding it to her chest. “And Annie, I know you think of Pierce as a dad. I want you to feel free to think of me as a mom.” She laughs. “A cool mom, of course. That goes out clubbing with you, and buys you drugs, and gets mistaken for your slightly older sister.”

Annie’s eyes are wide. “Okay.”

“And Troy, Pierce’s African American friend.” Connie’s smile becomes exuberant. “I can’t tell you how excited I am to meet you.”

“You can just call me Troy,” he says slowly as he shakes her hand. 

“It all makes so much sense now,” Jeff says quietly, continuing his commentary from behind Annie despite the dirty look she throws over her shoulder. Connie takes notice of him and looks him up and down with an appreciative leer.

“Well aren’t you a tall drink of water?” She touches his bicep lightly, and then firmer when she feels the muscle there. “He’s even better looking than you described him, Pierce.”

Pierce clears his throat. “Jeff, keep your hands to yourself.” 

~*~*~

Jeff sinks into a corner of the couch that’s been set up against the wall near the window to the fire escape and stretches out his legs to prop them up on one of the boxes Abed and Troy haven’t gotten to yet. He drapes one arm over the back of the couch and watches with a faint smile as Annie and Shirley spin around each other singing along loudly to a Police song he’s always hated. After pizza and several rounds of beers everyone is in much higher spirits and even Annie had gladly put a hold on more unpacking in favor of turning the rest of the day into an impromptu party. 

Britta and Connie are chatting in the entrance of the kitchen as Shirley and Annie dance around them and Britta’s eyes are a little apprehensive as she nods slowly in agreement to whatever Connie’s saying. Pierce leans into their conversation at one point, interrupting his argument with Troy and Abed over the last slice of pizza and a moment later Britta yells, “Pierce, that’s offensive” while Connie just laughs and bops Pierce on the nose with her finger. Abed and Troy use the disruption as an opportunity to quickly tear the debated slice of pizza in half and shove it in their mouths.

The song changes to something more mellow and Jeff takes a long pull of his beer and closes his eyes. A moment later he feels someone settle next to him and a smile tugs at his lips.

“Annie.”

“How did you know it was me?” she whispers and he opens his eyes with a grin. She’s leaning into his side under his arm with her legs tucked up under her. Her face is flushed pink from the alcohol and dancing and Jeff clutches at his beer bottle tighter to keep from reaching up and running his thumb along her jaw line.

“Well, it was either you or Troy, but he’s usually not so cuddly in front of people.”

Annie laughs and looks over her shoulder at the rest of the group before coming in closer so their faces are only inches apart. There’s a challenging gleam in her eyes and for a split second as her gaze flickers down to his lips he thinks she’s going to kiss him. He raises an eyebrow in curiosity, but then she just sighs and backs away.

“I don’t like having to share you,” she says with a slight pout. She doesn’t look at him, but scratches her nail lightly over a faded spot on his jeans. Jeff swallows hard, unsure of what to say to that other than he’s been feeling the same exact way all day. He reaches up and flicks at her ponytail.

“We could run away.”

She looks up, smiling. “Where would we go?”

“Hmmm.” He squints at her in thought. “Somewhere warm. So you could wear a bikini.” He almost expects an eye-roll or the harmless smack of her tiny hand against his chest but she only hums like the idea appeals to her and presses her body closer to his.

“Annie,” Troy calls from the kitchen. “Where did you put the bottle opener?”

“In the--” Annie pats Jeff on the leg and pops back up to her feet. “Hold on, I’ll get it for you.” She crosses Pierce on her way back to the kitchen and Jeff considers getting up to follow her before resigning to the inevitable and settling back into his corner of the couch. Pierce eases down next to him.

“Finally. I thought she’d never leave. I want to talk to you, Jeff.”

“Is it my birthday?” Jeff asks dryly before chugging down the rest of his beer.

Pierce laughs and barrels on. “I know me getting married has been difficult for you.”

“Not at all.”

“You’ve lost your wingman. Your Goose… Actually.” Pierce rubs his hands together as he thinks. “You’re probably Goose. I have more of that Tom Cruise charisma the ladies love.”

Jeff nods. “You know, what? I’m going to allow it.”

“You don’t have to thank me. I know I upped your game. But now the late nights drinking scotch surrounded by an all-you-can-eat buffet of redheads with long legs and fake boobs are over.”

“We never did that. Thank. God.”

“So I know exactly what you’re thinking. How could Pierce go and marry someone and give up such an awesome bachelor lifestyle?”

“Not in that order of words.”

“Well, I’m going to let you in on a little secret.” Pierce slings his arm around Jeff’s shoulders and leans in close. “Sometimes, when you meet the right woman, you realize that you’ve been overpaying for the buffet.”

“Pierce.” Jeff tries to shrug him off but then something clicks and he blinks into the middle distance, trying to wrap his head around what Pierce is saying. “Wait, what?”

“There’s a great big world out there, Jeffrey. And we tell ourselves that we need to see the entire thing, but the truth is, there’s not really much point to it if there’s no one to come home to at the end of the day.”

“That… actually makes sense.”

“You should come to me for advice more often.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

“Don’t worry,” Pierce claps him on the back. “You’ll find it some day. I’ve been lucky enough to find it eight times.”

Jeff eyes him curiously. “You really did care about all of them, didn’t you?”

“Of course! I can’t say the same for them. I know some of them just married me for the money. I’m not stupid. But they were willing to put up with my crap for awhile so why should I complain?”

Pierce shrugs as if it’s no big deal and Jeff huffs out a laugh, feeling an unexpected surge of fondness for the man next to him. He nods over towards the kitchen where Annie has joined Britta and Connie’s conversation.

“Well, Connie seems great.”

“That she is. I really lucked out this time.” Pierce leans in close. “She’s a former gymnast. She can do this thing in bed--”

Jeff purses his lips and starts shaking his head, “Nope. Now it’s ruined.” He stands up before Pierce can continue and is headed to the kitchen for another beer when he notices the man standing in the hallway near the front door. He squints in recognition. 

“Professor Cligoris?”

Everyone turns to look at the new arrival and he holds up his hand in greeting.

“Uh hey, guys. I knocked, but…”

“Martin!” Britta yelps and darts forward to meet him, tripping slightly and stumbling into him in her haste. He reaches out to hold her steady, hands curling around her upper arms.

Annie’s eyes widen in realization and delight. “Secret boyfriend,” she breathes out.

“You guys remember Martin? From the Model UN?”

“Are you guys dating? Don’t you hate the United Nations, Britta?” Abed’s brow creases in confusion as he tries to piece together this new information and Britta laughs and shakes her head.

“I don’t hate it.”

“But you staged a protest.”

“It was just a tiny, nothing--”

“Didn’t you get tased by Chang?” Jeff supplies helpfully with a grin that only deepens when Annie turns around with a glare of disapproval. 

“His hair is very long, isn’t it?” Connie murmurs in the midst of the conversation, as if she’s not sure if she’s turned on or repulsed. 

Britta huffs and holds up her hands. “Okay, no. I don’t support unchecked power for elitist organizations that embrace narrow-minded viewpoints and hold up moral relativism like a shield--” She pauses to let the others groan their annoyance. “But that doesn’t mean that Martin and I can’t move past that and remember what’s really important.”

“Seatbelts.”

Everyone stares at Troy for a beat and then decides to ignore him. 

Martin takes up where Britta left off. “Freedom. It’s what makes this country great.” He crosses his arms over his chest, his eyes going dreamy. “The system only works when there are still people to tell us that the system doesn’t work. As the great Henry David Thoreau once wrote, disobedience is the true foundation of liberty.”

Britta beams up at him and both Annie and Shirley coo their approval.

“Huh.” Jeff nods. “Well, mazel tov. And don’t forget to fill out paperwork with the Dean. Spoiler alert: there are no right answers to number three. Also, don’t give him your cell phone number.”

Britta scowls but Martin smiles at him in recognition. “Uruguay, right?”

“Only to my closet friends.”

Pierce raises an eyebrow at Connie and she nods with an understanding “Ooooooh” and then leans in toward Jeff.

“I’m very supportive of the gays,” she says with an encouraging smile.

Jeff stares at her. “Thanks,” he finally mutters before dropping back to the couch.

~*~*~

The party starts to wind down as Britta and Martin take off and Shirley follows soon after to get home to her family. Pierce starts to make noise about how he and Connie need to get home too and after a few exaggerated winks at Jeff and Troy that make both of them cringe and Connie giggle Annie manages to scoot them out the door with promises to invite them back for dinner ‘some time soon.’

Troy’s mouth is turned down as if he’s tasted something foul. “I guess it’s cool that old people still have sex, but it’s also wrong, you know?” He makes a motion with his hands like he’s trying to figure out how it would even work but Jeff stops him with a shake of his head.

“As fun a conversation as this could turn into, I think I’m going to take off too, kiddos.” He grabs his keys off the counter and flips them around his fingers. Abed barely acknowledges him from where he’s organizing his DVD’s and Troy’s still looks deep in the middle of a mental tailspin.

“Bye, Jeff. Thanks for your help today.” Annie gives him a one armed hug on her way back to the kitchen with a leftover box of pizza, waving him away casually. The door shuts behind him, sounding louder in her head than in reality and she has to pause in front of the fridge to let out a deep breath.

She’s felt off kilter all day watching real life bleed into the sanctuary of their summer and it’s been this internal fight to keep from holding on too tight, from missing something that’s not even really gone. Moving in with Troy and Abed and giving her relationship with Jeff a chance to breathe feels like the right, logical, thing to do, but when Jeff had mentioned running away earlier everything illogical inside her had been screaming to grab his hand and sprint towards the door as fast as possible.

Annie spends the next ten minutes absentmindedly straightening and rearranging things on the kitchen counter before walking back out to the living room, yawning loudly and stretching her arms over her head.

“Wow. It’s been a really long day. You guys must be exhausted.”

Troy and Abed look at each other and shrug.

“With all the unpacking and carrying things all the way up the stairs.” Annie yawns again and it catches and Abed yawns with her. “And it must have taken a lot of hard work to put together that Robo-Geisha costume.”

“It was kind of hard to wear, too,” Troy agrees.

“I bet! I’m surprised you can even keep your eyes open.” Annie continues on about how much work there still is left to do in the morning and how nice it’ll be for them to sleep in their new beds tonight until Troy and Abed are getting up, both yawning widely and heading into their room.

“I don’t feel tired though” she hears Troy murmur as they shut the door behind them.

Annie goes to her room and closes the door loud enough that they’ll hear it, waits a moment, and then slowly eases it back open just a crack so she can peer through the opening. With her nose pressed into the doorframe she steadies her breathing so she can hear any noises they might make. Everything is quiet so she slips out of the room again and tiptoes in bare feet past the kitchen to the front door.

Jeff is leaning back against the opposite wall in the hallway outside, one ankle crossed in front of the other. He’s thumbing at his phone and when she opens the door he raises his eyes to hers with a look of impatience. Annie shushes him with a wave of her hand before he can even say anything and grabs his wrist to yank him back into the apartment. As she locks everything back up, he slips an arm around her waist and nuzzles his nose against the back of her neck.

“That took forever,” he murmurs.

Annie nods silently and spins around into him, pushing him backwards towards her room. They’re halfway there when Troy’s laugh rings out, muffled through the wall, and they both freeze for a split second and then dart into her room, stifling laughter as she quietly shuts and locks the door behind them.

“You just had to move in with them, didn’t you?”

She answers him by launching herself toward him, knocking him back onto the bed and not wasting a moment before climbing over him and kissing him messily. Jeff steadies her, curling his hand around the back of her neck to thread his fingers through her hair and loosen her ponytail.

“It was a terrible idea,” Annie manages to get out a few moments later as she bites and licks her way down his neck, her heart pounding at the frenzied need to drink in as much of him as possible. Jeff’s deep answering groan buzzes out against her lips.

“The worst,” he agrees, tugging her back up for another kiss.

Their hurried energy starts to melt into a slow lazy makeout and Annie sinks into his warmth, pausing to tuck her head under his chin and take a breath. His arms wrap tight around her, keeping her close.

“You think you’re going to like it here, though?” he asks after a moment.

Annie nods against him. “I’m just happy I’m not going to have to deal with two am blue light special announcements and a transient who tries to pee on my shoes when I walk by every morning.”

Jeff blinks up at the ceiling and shakes his head, choosing to let it go. “Yeah, but how are you going to handle Wally and the Beaver constantly getting into trouble?”

Annie leans up, her nose scrunched up in confusion and Jeff scowls.

“Okay, if this is going to work you’re going to have to at least pretend to know my references.”

She giggles and rearranges herself to straddle his hips and sit up with her palms resting against his chest. “I don’t know Jeff, this is my place and if you’re going to be hanging around we’re going to have to set some ground rules. I can’t have you bringing your landlines and classic rock and outdated--”

Jeff cuts her off by grabbing her waist and tickling up her ribs with a dark grin and she shrieks and tries to squirm away from him.

At the loud burst of noise he quickly flips them over and claps a hand over her mouth. Annie’s eyes widen in realization.

“I know it’s hard to be quiet with me, baby. But you’re gonna have to try.”

Annie puffs out a sigh of exasperation against his hand and yanks him back down to kiss him. He starts trying to say something else against her lips but she holds firm until he relaxes into her, pressing more of his weight against her. She skims her hands down his back and then under his shirt, pushing it up but not bothering to pull it off over his head before sliding her hands back down and into his jeans. Jeff groans loudly and arches his hips into hers.

She brushes her mouth across his cheek and down his neck where she sucks at the delicate skin under his ear, “You’re gonna have to try to be quiet, baby,” she whispers with a smirk.

Jeff snorts and turns his head to peck a kiss to her lips and brush his nose against hers before leaning up on his knees to pull his shirt over his head and toss it aside. Underneath him Annie wiggles out of her shorts and then together they tug her shirt off and meet for another kiss, more desperate this time as Jeff reaches behind her and starts shoving pillows off her bed so that they go knocking into the nightstand and send a lamp toppling over the edge with a crash.

Annie gasps and fists her hands up at her mouth as Jeff freezes with his eyes clenched shut. They both wait in silence but no one comes to investigate the noise.

“We should have just gone back home.” Jeff mutters as he rolls off her and onto his back.

“This is my first night living here, Jeff. I have to…” Annie pauses to think of the right word as she leans over the side of the bed to pick up the lamp and set it back on the nightstand. “… actually live here.”

Jeff makes a noise of discontent, but curls his arm around her as she slides down and settles against his side. They lie quietly, Annie trailing her fingers over Jeff’s chest in random patterns and occasionally scratching lightly in spots she knows he likes, making him shiver from her touch. She smiles, ducking her head against him, constantly overwhelmed at the effect she has on him.

There’s a slight breeze blowing in through the window she had opened earlier, cool against their skin and when Jeff shivers again Annie sits up reaches for one of the blankets that are still folded in a pile by her nightstand. At her movement Jeff lifts his head and looks down his body to where his feet are hanging several inches off the end of the bed.

“There’s something wrong with your bed. There’s no way this is regulation sized.”

“You’re not regulation sized.”

Jeff raises an eyebrow, “I haven’t heard you complaining. Unless you’ve been saving that for cocktails with Carrie and Miranda.”

Annie snorts as she unfurls a blanket to drape over them. “Right. That’s going to happen. I think my Carrie and Miranda would prefer I save that for my diary.”

“Diary, huh? Is that around here somewhere?” Jeff reaches an arm toward her nightstand. “I’d like to take a look at that.”

“Jeff! No!” Annie quickly tackles him back down to the bed, straddling his hips and pinning his hands to the mattress.

“Dear Diary,” he continues in a falsetto. “Jeff is too good at sex. Sometimes I’m afraid the orgasms are going to actually make me lose my mind.”

Annie scoffs. “Dear Diary, I was too busy fishing for compliments to make out with my awesome girlfriend.” She eyes him darkly. “That was you.”

Jeff grins. “Yeah, I got that.” He leans up, breaking Annie’s hold on him, to kiss her softly and run his thumb along her jaw. Annie slings her arms around his neck and tilts her head to the side as she regards him with a soft gaze that makes his cheeks go faintly pink. He shakes his head at her, trying to school his features into an indifferent smirk.

There’s a knock at the door then and they both go still, eyes sliding toward the door.

“Annie.” It’s Troy, whispering loudly. “Are you awake?”

Jeff and Annie communicate silently with widened eyes and it takes Annie a moment to compose herself and answer calmly, “Yeah?”

“Oh good. Abed and I were thinking about making pancakes tomorrow. Is that okay?”

Jeff rolls his eyes and Annie’s shoulders relax in relief. “That’s fine.”

“Cool. Um. Do you know how to make pancakes?”

“Yes Troy,” Annie responds patiently.

“Good. Jeff, you can stay for breakfast too if you want.”

Annie’s mouth drops open. “How?” she mouths to Jeff who just presses his lips together and nods because of course this was never going to stay secret for long.

“Thanks, Troy,” he says finally.

“Night!” Troy practically sings, laughter in his voice as he walks away from the door.

Jeff makes a makes a tsking noise. “This is your fault.”

“Mine?! How?”

“All that eye sex you were throwing at me. I felt naked all day.”

Annie frowns and then nods as if she’s agreeing. “Okay, then we probably don’t need to be naked right now.” She starts to pull away from him but he grips at her waist to keep her still.

“I didn’t say I minded. Besides, it might. Have been a little my fault too.”

“Yeah, especially with all the,” Annie widens her eyes and pouts out her lips.

“What is that? Stop doing that. I don’t look like that. ”

“Around me you do,” she says gleefully.

Jeff groans and pulls her in closer, presses a kiss to the side of her neck. “I’m so screwed.”

Annie sighs and tilts her head to the side. “Yup.”

His stubble scrapes rough along her skin, but she can feel his lips curl up into a smile against her as she pushes him slowly back to the bed.


End file.
